Smash Into You
by Darkshines1984
Summary: Rated M for later chapters. I'm mainly a W/T girl so this is a bit of an adventure for me but I like this pairing post season 6. This is based after season 7 and totally ignores the comics. Please read and review! Work in progress! Chapter 29 now up!
1. Chapter 1

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Faith had been surprised when an officer had entered her cell and told her she was to be released the next day. It was nearly a year and a half before her sentence was due to end before she had broken out to help Angel and she had expected to be stuck in jail longer not for less time after that escapade. She knew somebody must have had a hand in the strange turn of events, she suspected it was Angel but she kind of hoped it was Buffy; even if she did just need her help to stop some unimaginable evil. She didn't really need Buffy's forgiveness or approval but she couldn't deny that it would be nice if Buffy could get over everything that had passed between them. At one time it had been Faith that was holding onto the anger more than the other slayer but Faith's frustration with Buffy had dissipated some time ago, even if blondie was an uptight prick most of the time.

Faith had made the decision to return to prison to continue her sentence on her own but she could tell that Buffy approved of it. Buffy approved of it because it was 'right' and because it showed she, Faith, was truly trying to atone and Faith expected that Giles and Willow felt the same. Xander however had been glad she'd gone because he didn't have to worry about her presence, not that she could completely blame him, she had been fairly horrible to him in the past. She had sort of hoped that he would try to forgive her a little too like the others had but it hadn't seemed to happen whilst she had been fighting the first with them. She wondered how he'd react when he found out that she was no longer in prison, how any of them would react if they didn't already know.

The weird thing was that after finding out she would only be in prison another eighteen hours the hours had passed so slowly that it felt like days. Partly because of the anticipation of finally being free and partly because she feared what was waiting for her. Not that she was scared about any brewing evil in LA or the hell mouth; it was more a fear of having to try and slip back into society and live a normal (ish) life after everything she had been through. In fact, she didn't really know what to do with herself because she had never really tasted any form of normality at all, not even as a child. She realised as she was walking that she was actually shaking slightly, with anticipation and with fear.

She was dressed in the clothes she had worn the day she turned herself back into the police after defeating the first, denim jeans and matching jacket with a creamy coloured vest top. In her hand she carried a duffel bag with her original clothes and processions in from when Angel persuaded her to turn herself in. She followed in the footsteps of a burly female prison guard with dirty blonde her as she was led through a maze of passage ways to the exit of the building. She had never been through this part of the prison before as she had never legally exited it before. She could feel her mouth go dry as she reached a heavy looking outer door with two armed guards waiting by it. This was it, she was about to step out into the daylight and enjoy her newfound freedom.

The door was opened for her to step out into the sunlight and she had to blink several times to readjust her eyes to the strong light outside. Once she did she could see that the only thing between her and being released now was a metal gate in the metal fencing surrounding the prison. She stepped out towards it and the heavy door closed behind her. As she made her way across the thirty foot of pavement to the gate she noticed that standing on the other side of the gate, and leaning on a red hire car, there was a familiar face waiting for her...but not once she had expected to see.

The red haired witch waved to her and smiled as the guards opened the gate for her and Faith crossed the threshold of the prison and into her freedom. Her one person greeting party remained in place against the car so Faith slowly took a few steps towards her, wondering what to say to the girl she had once threatened to kill.

"Faith" the witch said by way of a greeting, perfectly at ease in the slayers presence. It was a sign of the red heads growing power and maturity because not that long ago she would have paled in Faith's presence.

"Willow"

* * *

Willow had gotten to the prison exit early and had been standing around for nearly twenty minutes. The odd staff member had given her strange looks on the way into work, obviously wondering who she was waiting for. She felt sorry for Faith, exiting the prison would be like taking the walk of shame. A year ago that wouldn't have bothered Willow, she'd have been more worried about the fact Faith was on the loose again. Now though things had changed, Faith had escaped and helped the scoobies defeat the first and gained their trust again.

Willow had felt so guilty when Faith had returned to prison willingly to carry out the rest of her sentence. Buffy had just thought that Faith was doing the right thing and forgot about the second slayer again but Willow could not. What right did she have to be walking around free and Faith to be locked up? Faith had killed by accident at first and Willow had done far worse. She had purposely gone after Warren and killed him for revenge; the dark magic was no excuse really. That evil was in her and she was far more dangerous than Faith could probably ever be if she lost control again. No, Willow felt like she and Faith had something in common, the need for redemption. It was something Buffy, Dawn, Giles and Xander couldn't begin to understand even if she really tried to explain it to them. The only reason they hadn't turned against Willow like they had turned against Faith was because they had known her so long and where friends. This made Willow feel even guiltier because she wished she had tried to help and support Faith during graduation year, maybe then things would have turned out differently for the brunette slayer.

It had been nine months since they had defeated the first. Nine months since Sunnydale had been destroyed and the gang had moved to the hell mouth at Cleveland. As a general rule the hell mouth at Cleveland was not as active as Sunnydale had been but it was getting worse because of the closure of their old hell mouth. The other slayers had not come with them to Cleveland and the magic that had activated their powers had gradually been wearing off so that it was now barely existent. The only one that had originally joined them was Kennedy because her and Willow had been dating, but that had only lasted a couple of weeks.

Willow had found that now the crisis with the first was over that she really didn't need or want Kennedy around, they were totally incompatible in normal everyday life. Willow had felt guilty at first because to a degree she had used Kennedy because she needed the emotional support. She had come to accept that she had tried but it just hadn't worked. Besides, Willow was still totally caught up in Tara even though she had been dead for two years. She doubted she would ever love anyone the same way she had Tara again and had just accepted that she may well be single for a long time. It wasn't like she was lonely, she lived with the gang in an old hotel that Angel had helped them acquire and the newly reformed watchers council had funded.

It wasn't like she could be jealous of her friend's romantic endeavours because Giles and Andrew were single as normal and Buffy and Xander had lost Spike and Anya in the battle with the first and where in the same boat as Willow. Neither showed any interest in dating and Willow had been shocked to realise how deeply Buffy had cared for Spike and she wished she'd been a bit more supportive of her friend over him. Dawn was the only one who had dated since the move to Cleveland but that had only been once and it was brief. Dawn was suffering the loss of Tara, Anya and Spike too and Willow thought that it had probably put Dawn of relationships a little. Loving someone was a dangerous occupation on the hell mouth, there was always a high chance it would end in misery.

Willow felt a little like the outsider in the house sometimes even more so than Andrew or the new member of the gang Chloe. Everyone was very weary of her doing any form of magic unless it was an emergency and then they expected her to just start casting the big spells. What they didn't seem to appreciate was that it put more pressure on her mentally that way as she wasn't able to practise her control on more minor spells. Sometimes they got really freaked if her eyes went black briefly during a spell and she knew that they didn't really trust her, even if they pretended otherwise.

Perhaps that had been why she had thrown herself into the project of getting Faith released early. She had rung Angel and asked for his help which he had gladly given. He was the only one that knew about what she was doing. The others wouldn't understand, Xander still didn't trust Faith one bit, but Willow felt like Faith deserved her freedom. Faith would also be someone for her to relate to, an outsider, and a person that was let in but not quite trusted. So she and Angel had put forward a legal case for Faith's release and succeeded but she knew nothing of this in her cell in prison, she just knew she was being released today.

Angel had rang Buffy and asked for Willow to come to and help him with something but it had actually been a ploy to get Willow in LA so she could meet Faith upon her release. Willow had wanted to do it but she had presumed Angel would insist on meeting Faith himself. Instead he had been keen for Willow to go as it had been her who had instigated Faith's release from jail. So she had flew to LA the night before and stayed with Angel and was now waiting patiently for Faith to be released at ten in the morning.

When the large metal door had finally swung open Willow had gasped involuntarily, although she wasn't quite sure why. It had taken several seconds before Faith had appeared in the doorway and the slayers movements where slow and apprehensive. Willow's heart had gone out to her as she watched the emotions play across the brunette who usually did so well hiding what she was feeling. Faith had begun to make her way to the prison gate and it was not until she reached the gate that she had finally noticed Willow. Not that Willow had done anything particularly attention grabbing apart from wave slightly, she had just remained leaning against the car she had hired from the airport. She did not want to crowd or force herself on Faith; she wanted the slayer to come to her.

Once Faith had been let out the gate that's exactly what she did. She had walked up to Willow and stood in front of her, silent and slightly confused by Willow's presence.

"Faith" Willow had greeted her as she gave the slayer the once over with her eyes. Faith looked in good health albeit a little pale but Willow could imagine that they didn't see much natural light in jail. She wasn't deathly pale anyway, not when you were used to seeing vampires who were seriously on the pasty side. In fact Faith looked pretty good even though she didn't have the usual make up on.

"Willow" It had taken the slayer a while to reply and although it was a sort of returned greeting it was also a question. Willow knew that Faith was wondering why she was here and she knew she explanations were in order but not here outside the prison gate.

"Let me buy you a coffee and we can talk" Willow said softly, in fact it was almost warmly. She wanted to make feel Faith to feel at ease rather than weary around her.

"Cool" Faith agreed "A latte or Mocha would be fantastic compared to the shite they give you in there!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first, Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The nearest coffee house was going to be miles away considering the correctional facility was about a 40 minute drive from central Los Angeles. Willow didn't seem interested in stopping at the nearest signs of civilisation anyway and Faith could see LAX airport signs before they finally stopped at a shopping centre just outside central LA. It had been almost an hour drive which had been spent in awkward silence between the two of them. The only noises came from the car engine and the radio which was on too low for Faith to hear properly, even with her enhanced slayer hearing.

Faith had angled herself so she was looking out the passenger window at the road; it meant that Willow didn't have a clear view of her. She wanted to be able to think without the red head watching her too closely.

The fact Willow had been the one to greet her outside the prison gates had put Faith's head in a spin, it was so unexpected. She had honestly thought that if anyone would have been there it would have been Angel lurking in the shadows or at least someone to do with Angel like Fred or Gun. Willow's appearance meant that it had to have something to do with Buffy, perhaps an emergency or Buffy would have come herself, but then Willow didn't seem to be in a rush to get back to Cleveland. Anyway, Willow was a powerful witch, so if there was an emergency surely she'd be more use at the hell mouth and someone like Giles or that annoying Andrew would have been sent. None of it was really making sense and she knew that she'd just have to wait for Willow's explanation.

Faith had given up on theorising why Willow was there and instead gave the girl a sneaky the once over whilst Willow was concentrating in a busy and built up area. Red looked in good health, no signs of injury or ailments or anything obvious like that. Her clothes were a little different than Faith was used to seeing her in, none of the usual hippy stuff, just well fitted denim jeans and a black strappy top. Faith had noticed Willow was wearing quite a lot of foundation and eyeliner when she had met her at the gate and Faith wondered if she was trying to cover lack of sleep or something. That's why Faith used to lay make up on seriously thick sometimes anyway.

She was broken from her thoughts when they reached the car park and Willow parked up and climbed out. The outdoor shopping centre had a Starbucks so they headed there and Willow opened the door for her to enter. Faith was slightly moved by Willow's good manners, she was not really used to people opening doors and being so polite to her. She made a mental note to try and be as polite and civil back as she could possibly muster.

"What do you want to drink?"

Willow's question brought Faith's attention back to the coffee house they were now stood in and she scanned the counter for inspiration.

"A mocha or something" she replied "I'm really not fussed"

She realised instantly that she sounded ungrateful and had already failed in her attempts to be polite.

"Please" she added quickly, trying to retrieve the situation. There was a faint look of surprise on Willow's face but then her expression changed and she was suddenly smiling. Faith felt a little nervous at seeing the red heads reaction but tried to smile back. She was relieved though when Willow turned away and headed to the counter because she no longer felt under scrutiny.

Faith decided to do something practical whilst she waited and she found them a small isolated table in the corner by the window, giving them privacy to speak. She placed her bag next to the table but didn't sit down, she wanted to wait for Willow to return with the drinks first.

When Willow appeared at the table she had more than just drinks on her tray, she also had a wrap and a couple of muffins.

"I thought you may be hungry" Willow explained "I bet they don't provide for slayer appetites in prison"

That was certainly not inaccurate thought Faith as she gazed at the very appetising looking double chocolate muffins. She remembered her mental note about being polite so she took the tray from Willow and set it down on the table, and then pulled a chair back, gesturing for Willow to sit down. Willow gave her the same surprised look from before but sat down without questioning the slayers actions. Faith then sat down herself and reached for her mocha and the wrap, which turned out to be a tasty looking barbeque chicken wrap.

"Thank you" there was no denying the honesty that was carried in Faith's voice before she began to tuck into the food greedily, her hunger taking over her need to talk for now.

* * *

Willow watched the slayer dive into her wrap and was instantly glad she'd had the foresight to buy her food, Faith looked starving. The hunger was expected, the obvious attempts be Faith to be polite was not so expected. Even when she had helped them defeat the first, she had pretty much been the same old Faith, with the snappy comments and the total lack of manners. Now though Faith seemed to be going out of her way to be polite and courteous.

Now Faith was settled and eating it seemed to be the perfect time to explain to her why Willow was there and why Faith had been released early. It wasn't really a long story but Willow was unsure of how Faith would react to the news that she had instigated her release and not Buffy.

"You must be wondering why I'm here"

It seemed like a good place to start and Faith seemed to agree because she raised her eyes to Willow's and nodded in agreement, her mouth to full of food to reply verbally.

"Over six months ago I contacted Angel because I wanted his help in getting your early release. His connections in Wolfram and Hart were invaluable in organising the legal case for you. Like any legal case though these things take time, especially when you constantly have huge apocalyptic like distractions all the time. They are not always guaranteed to be successful either, hence the fact we didn't inform you what we were doing. We only found out three days ago that we had secured your release. So Angel rang Buffy a couple of days ago with some false story about needing my help so I could come here to meet you. So here I am, glad to see you look in good health, albeit a little hungry."

Willow hadn't really looked at Faith during her speech, choosing to stare into her coffee cup instead. When she did finally look up after she had finished talking she found that Faith had stopped chewing and was looking at her like she had grown two heads.

"You organised my release?" Faith clarified "and Buffy doesn't know?"

"No, no one does except Angel...yet anyway" Willow admitted.

"I can't believe you actually hid it from Buffy!" Faith exclaimed "don't get me wrong I'm exceedingly grateful ... I'm just shocked! You were always so close to her, I couldn't imagine you hiding anything from her!"

Willow felt a strong pang of emotion in her chest, Faith was right; at one point she would never have done anything without Buffy's say so. Things had decayed so much though that she didn't feel guilty for not telling Buffy, only slightly guilty that she didn't feel guilty if that made sense. She had not told her because she didn't want to have to explain why she wanted Faith's release, she couldn't face trying to discuss the past with Buffy, or the present for that matter. It wasn't like Buffy wouldn't want Faith released; in fact she'd probably welcome it when Faith returned with her to Cleveland.

"Buffy won't mind me getting you out Faith" Willow tried to explain "She just wouldn't understand why"

"I don't think I do either" Faith admitted "but perhaps that's a conversation for a different time"

Willow was relieved that Faith wasn't pushing her for answers as she didn't feel quite ready to give them yet. She didn't know if Faith would appreciate Willow's guilt or like the idea of them sharing anything in common for that matter. She didn't want to put the slayer of returning to Cleveland but once there and settled Faith may be more inclined to understand.

"So there is no crisis? No apocalypse you need me back for?" Faith spoke up, breaking Willow's reverie. It wasn't an unexpected question; Faith had broken out of prison last time to save Angel from his vampire self so she obviously expected to be called when needed and otherwise ignored.

"There wasn't when I left" Willow said playfully "but it's the hell mouth so who knows what will have kicked off in the last twenty four hours!"

The slayer snorted in response and returned her focus to the food in front of her, swiftly finishing of the wrap and moving onto a muffin. Willow took a sip of her coffee but felt too uncomfortable with the silence so began to talk again.

"We are living in an old renovated hotel in Cleveland" she began "Me, Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Giles, Andrew and Chloe. Chloe is from Cleveland, she was attacked by vampires and Buffy saved her so now she'd part of the gang. Well ... she cooks and cleans and does the stuff like that, she's not really the fighting type."

"An old hotel? Angel inspired?" Faith asked between mouthfuls of muffin.

"Angel bought!" Willow admitted "Watcher funded"

"I thought the Watcher's were no more?" Faith inquired, her interest clearly piqued by this new information.

"They have been reformed but they are ran differently now, much better. Giles is one of the head honchos now so all is good. As I said they pretty much fund the place although we all do odd jobs to keep some extra money flowing in for some luxury things. There are plenty of spare rooms; all with their own bathrooms ... I know one or two that will suite a slayer very well!"

Willow though she had led into the offer pretty well, she hadn't asked Faith directly and put her on the spot, she was giving her a chance to avoid the topic if she wanted too. Faith had finished the muffin and glanced up at Willow again before taking a huge swig of her mocha. Willow wondered if Faith had heard her at all or if she was just giving the offer some thought. Perhaps Willow's offer hadn't been as obvious as she first thought and she was being too subtle.

"Is that muffin for you?" Faith asked, whilst she stared at the second and final muffin like she hadn't ate in weeks.

"It was but I can always buy another" Willow laughed "just eat the damn thing Faith!"

The slayer didn't need to be told twice and she was soon half way through the muffin with no signs of slowing down. Willow finished her coffee and waited for Faith to polish of the rest of the muffin, which she did within seconds.

"Do you want more?" Willow offered "Are you still hungry?"

"Na I'm cool thanks" Faith dropped back into a more usual laid back tone.

"Five by five" Willow wasn't entirely sure what possessed her to say Faith's trade mark phrase. Perhaps it was Faith's sudden return to her old self or even the fact she said 'cool' rather than her usual 'five by five' than no one ever understood.

"Five by five" Faith repeated a content broad smile on her face that Willow had never really seen before. Faith's smiles had always seemed slightly manic back in the old days at high school but this one was a warm and happy smile and it lit up the features on her face.

"Cleveland sounds five by five too" Faith finally admitted "when do we leave?"

Willow was pleased that Faith was coming back with her even though it was no surprise to her. She knew Faith would not be able to resist the pull of the hell mouth and the chance to prove herself again.

"Pretty much now because I have a flight booked for us this afternoon" Willow admitted "first though I reckon we shoot into a store and buy you some more clothes courtesy of the Watchers Council."

"You're telling me you're carrying Watcher's Council plastic?" Faith smirked at the idea of the spending spree they could have.

"Oh yes" Willow admitted "I'm sure they wouldn't notice a few hundred dollars going walkies, they are pretty loaded after all!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The shopping spree had been brief as Faith didn't mind just buying all the clothes from the one shop, Nordstrom Rack. She bought a few pairs of dark blue jeans, a leather jackets, loads of different colours vest tops, some underwear and a couple or pairs of short pyjamas. Then she and Willow bought some make up from a cosmetics store which was also at the Howard Hughes Promenade.

Even though it had been brief Faith had actually had good fun, probably because she felt elated to be free. She had to confess it was nice though to actually be socialising with someone, even if it was someone you previously thought had hated you. Maybe Willow still hated her, although that now seemed unlikely considering red had orchestrated her release.

Willow had also been very chatty during the shopping, cheerfully discussing trivial things about clothing and items of lingerie. There had been an amusing conversation about the fact Willow didn't wear thongs because they looked uncomfortable and the red head couldn't get her head round why Faith would want to own any. Faith had not dared ask what lingerie Willow wore although she expected it was mostly of the large comfortable variety. Willow and sexy underwear just didn't seem to go together in Faith's mind.

The short drive to LAX, the LA airport, was spent in silence as Faith sat in the back of the hire car taking tags of clothing and packing them into her duffel bag. It was nice to actually own some clothes again after having to wear those horrible uniforms in prison. She was still fairly short on garments considering she was now a free girl, the duffel bag still wasn't full by any stretch of the imagination.

When they reached the airport they had to walk from the car hire building which happened to be a hike from terminal four. Faith chucked her duffel bag over her shoulder and refused to let Willow wheel her own small suitcase. She had slayer strength after all, it seemed logical for her to carry the bags, especially as Willow looked pretty tired. The red head had briefly protested before giving up and letting Faith do as she pleased.

By the time they reached the terminal their flight was being called so they had to go straight through to the waiting lounge. This left them with only an hour wait before boarding so Willow went and sat in Starbucks with the bags whilst Faith went for a walk around the various duty free stores. She wasn't remotely interested in the shops but it gave her time to consider what Willow had told her in the Starbucks at the Promenade.

Willow's motivation behind trying to get her freed alluded Faith but there obviously was one and Willow hadn't seemed ready to talk about it. That was fine for now but it would be nice to understand at some point. It seemed like a huge turnaround from the girl who had once been delighted by the idea of Faith being shipped of and tortured by the Watcher's Council. Not that Faith could blame the girl; she had once held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her after all. Then there was all that joining the Mayor and trying to rule the world stuff which couldn't have warmed her to Willow at all.

That was all in the past though and Faith had been trying to move on and become a better person, to believe in herself and care about herself a bit more. Now she had another opportunity to seek redemption for her actions from the people she had hurt the most. She had to grasp the opportunity with both hands and if Willow was willing to support her than she would make damn sure Willow's faith in her didn't go to waste.

That past though did leave her a little worried about her impending arrival in Cleveland. She knew others would not be so welcoming and the idea of being Watcher funded still wigged her out, even if it had been reformed and was ran differently. Her experiences with Watcher's had not been warming, the only decent and sensible one she had met was Giles. At least he was now in a position of authority, which calmed her nerves a little. The other thing that made her nervous was the idea of living with the likes of Xander and Buffy, even if she did have plenty of space to avoid them. It was something she was going to have to get over though if she was going to make Cleveland work.

She had returned to the Starbuck's to find Willow when the Cleveland flight number started being called and the found the red head sat with three empty cups of coffee. She should have been twitching she was that caffeinated but instead she just looked drained. There was definitely something odd going on with Willow but Faith wasn't sure how interested she should be in whatever it was. She couldn't help be curious about how it somehow linked to her release though; she was definitely going to have to broach the subject at some point.

Once they were boarded, lectured by very plastic looking flight attendants and finally in the air and on the move; Faith was left sitting in between Willow and the window and wondering what on earth they were going to talk about. They were surrounded by people so slaying and demons were out the question, what else did the two have to chat about on a four and a half hour flight?

"Want to listen to some music with me?"

Willow had obviously remembered how much Faith had enjoyed going out and dancing and listening to music. Even when she'd returned to help defeat the first she had been into her music and had taken the slayerette's to the Bronze to blow off some steam. Buffy had gone crazy when she found out but they where all getting crazy with each other just being confined to the house, how was Faith supposed to know they would be attacked.

"Only if you have something decent" Faith responded with a huge smirk on her face. She was almost challenging Willow; she couldn't imagine that any CD's Willow had with her would qualify as decent music. It was a challenge Willow couldn't resist and she began to rifle through her large shoulder bag, firstly producing her walkman and then a copied CD in a blue sleeve.

"You don't trust my taste in music?" Willow seemed confident that she could prove her wrong.

Faith was silent and tried ignoring the question in case Willow did produce something half decent. Willow wasn't letting it go though and the red head gave her a playful prod in the arm with her forefinger. Faith smirked but still remained silent so Willow prodded her again.

"I didn't say a word!" Faith finally said with mock defensiveness in her voice.

"You didn't have too!" Willow pouted to give her words more effect but it was clear she wasn't really offended. Faith was kind of pleased that they could actually banter like this; Willow had changed a lot over the last few years and was no longer the geeky goofball of old.

Willow put the CD into the walkman and pressed play, turning the volume up before it had even started and thrusting the right earphone at Faith for her to use. Faith stuffed the earphone in her ear and the beginning of 'Whiskey in the Jar' by Thin Lizzy started playing causing Faith to give Willow an approving grin.

"Good choice red" Faith commented "rock music is the best thing to travel to."

"See you did think I'd only have rubbish!" Willow couldn't resist a slight dig at Faith for doubting her taste.

The next song was 'Hotel California' by The Eagles and Faith instantly got excited, turning the volume up even higher. It turned out to be a classic rock album which had artist like Deep Purple, Bowie, The Stones, Blue Oyster Cult and Alice Cooper on. Faith loved all this kind of stuff, closely followed by some good electro/dance/rock stuff that you could really dance to in clubs.

This was how the first half of the journey was spent, listening and to that CD and then another rock one from the same collection and sort of dancing to them. Well, as much dancing as you could do sitting down, it was more shoulder swaying than anything else. It was however quite a good bonding experience and had probably made them much more comfortable around each other than trying to converse would have.

After about two hours though Willow had obviously started to drop off and had fell asleep, something Faith could never do on planes because the seats were that upright. Faith had just played the second CD again for a bit but then Willow's head had lulled from the back of the seat and came to rest on Faith's right shoulder. This was new territory for Faith but she couldn't see how she could move Willow without waking her, so she turned the music of and patiently waited for Willow to wake up. The red head finally obliged about twenty minutes away from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport when the captain announced they were about to start landing.

* * *

Willow woke with a start when an announcement was made over the loud speaker. It was something about approaching Cleveland and fastening belts but Willow's attention was more drawn to the fact that she had been asleep on Faith's shoulder for god knows how long.

"Jesus Faith I'm sorry" she apologised instantly as she tried to fumble with her belt. Faith had clipped hers across instantly but Willow was having more of a problem finding one side of it.

"Here" Faith reached down between them and rescued the belt for her, actually fastening it for Willow in the process.

"Thanks" Willow was again surprised by how pleasant Faith was being. Not only had she been very polite for Faith but she had also carried Willow's bag and opened doors for her. Now she had even tolerated Willow sleeping and probably slobbering on her, something that must have been torture for the no contact slayer.

"No problem red" Faith replied "feeling any better after your sleep?"

"A little" Willow admitted. It was only a couple of hours and she was still tired but not to the point where she couldn't keep her eyes open like before.

She had noticed that Faith had called her 'red' which had always been the slayers name for her but it was said in a much more friendly was than Faith had used to use it. Once upon a time it had almost seemed like a way of mocking her rather than an affectionate nickname or anything.

The brunette slayer shifted uncomfortably in her seat and began chewing, like she had imaginary gum in her mouth. Willow must have given Faith a strange look or something because the slayer looked a little embarrassed.

"I hate landing more than the take off" Faith explained "It makes my ears pop"

"I'm lucky, my ears never mind" Willow conversed, thinking how it sounded odd hearing a slayer complain about something so normal and trivial. It really wasn't something that bothered Willow but maybe she had a natural ability to travel of her stupid jet set parents.

Well, they were not stupid as in thick; they were stupid as in annoying. They were in fact very intelligent, which they thought gave them ample excuse to work hard and travel all the time. This meant that from the age of sixteen Willow had lived alone a lot in the family home in Sunnydale which may have been fun if there was never a risk that they would just reappear at any moment. Unfortunately they fluttered in as much as they flittered out and when they were in they were miserable and boring tyrants. They were anti men and anti friends and very pro study which had always seemed okay before Buffy and her slaying had come along and liberated Willow from her very boring existence.

Now, after the destruction of Sunnydale she rarely spoke to them apart from the occasional courtesy phone call. She didn't even know which part of the world they were currently in and found that unremarkably she did not care. They didn't seem to care much about what she was doing either, she wasn't in Yale or another huge university so she was no longer the prodigal child...she didn't matter.

Her attention was brought back to Faith when the plane finally touched down. The brunette slayer was rubbing her ear quite roughly and was obviously still very uncomfortable.

"Can you still hear?" Willow asked her sympathetically, wondering how badly the slayer's ears had popped.

"Yeah" Faith grumbled "it seems to have finished popping now"

There was a comfortable silence between the two of them whilst the plane came to a halt and everyone disembarked, taking the shuttle to the terminal so they could collect their luggage. Faith located the two bags quickly and seemed determined to carry them both again, something Willow would normally protest to if she had the energy to do so.

The walk out the terminal to the car park at the Hopkins International wasn't too long and they were at the car within ten minutes. Faith seemed fairly amused by her wheels, it was an old nineties, blue, Ford Taurus that had definitely seemed better days. Willow was glad the slayer didn't pass comment though because she was quite protective over her car, it was comfy and easy to drive and it was hers. She had never had a car before so this one was very precious to her, even if it was old and dated looking.

"How tired are you red?" Faith asked as they were packing the trunk "want me to drive? I don't fancy having an accident if you fall asleep at the wheel!"

"You'd be fine slayer" Willow pointed out "I'd probably be screwed"

Willow was glad that Faith had offered to drive because she was seriously starting to lag. God knows how many miles she had travelled within the last two days. Her eyes were stinging from lack of sleep and her legs, back and arms ached like crazy after she had slept sitting up on the plane. So she tossed Faith the keys to show that she approved of the idea and headed round to the passenger side of the blue beast.

She put the passenger seat down a bit so she was nearly horizontal and relaxed back, determined to get a few minutes rest whilst the directions where easy.

"Just head down the Outerbelt freeway and let me know when we are by Brooklyn" she explained to Faith. It got complicated then so she would have to sit up and direct her from that point in.

Faith seemed unfazed by driving in a strange city but then it may not have actually been that strange to Faith, it was by Boston after all and wasn't that were Faith had lived before she came to Sunnydale? Willow was sure she could remember that from graduation year but wasn't entirely sure. It wasn't massively important at this point in time though so she ignored it and dosed in the passenger seat for a bit. It hardly seemed like any time at all when Faith woke her and told her they skirting past Brooklyn now.

They had got quite far pretty damn quickly but when Willow sat up properly she realised why. Faith was seriously putting the hammer down and was ripping across the freeway at over 100 miles per hour. She was actually a really smooth driver though and Willow actually felt quite safe considering the speed they were travelling. She didn't even realise her old Ford could shift that fast without struggling, she was just as impressed with the car as she was with Faith's driving.

"I'd have definitely pinned you down as a speed freak"

Willow decided to make conversation with the slayer. She was slightly nervous when she looked across and realised Faith was fumbling at a cola bottle they had got on the plane with her free hand, trying to remove the lid.

"Misspent youth" Faith admitted before taking a swig from the bottle and fastening it again without slowing down.

"Yeah I could picture you getting your kicks from joy riding" Willow admitted, the idea just fitted somehow because Faith got such a kick from danger in general.

Willow stole another glance at Faith and realised the slayer looked slightly uncomfortable discussing her miscreants. The brunette had a thoughtful and slightly sad look on her face and was definitely avoiding making eye contact with Willow. The witch realised that Faith felt shame about being a teenage rebel and Willow wondered what had pushed Faith to be the way she was. Who was her family? What were they like? Had she even had a proper family? As curious as Willow was about Faith's past it was not the right time to ask Faith, if there ever was a right time. Instead she decided to change the subject to safer and more comfortable ground for the slayer.

"We need to turn onto Pearl road in a minute" Willow instructed "It's not far then"

Willow could tell that Faith was getting more and more nervous as they drove into the built up area and she wished she could think of something comforting to say. Everything that came to mind just sounded patronising though and she didn't want that.

After directing Faith through the streets of Seven Hills, the area of Cleveland that the Hellmouth was located under, they finally reached the hotel at about two in the morning. They pulled up to the building and all the lights where off so Willow tried to be as quiet as she could as she directed Faith into the small car park and got out the car. Faith followed suite and got her bag out the car, all the while looking round apprehensively.

"Home sweet home" Willow declared, trying to keep the mood light.


	4. Chapter 4

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The hotel was different to what Faith had expected and was nothing like Angel's. It was a low rise building with only two floors but it was spread over a large area. There was certainly plenty of space for several people to live in and then some.

Faith followed Willow through the front door and into a large dark space. Willow must have turned the lights on because suddenly the room was illuminated. It had once been the hotel reception area but had now been converted into a living room space with a large television, sofa's and a large wooden table and chairs. It was obviously lived in but was exceptionally tidy, probably because of that Chloe girl Willow had mentioned.

There was a noise from somewhere in the first floor and the sound of footsteps. Faith's apprehension rose again, wondering who was going to be the first person she had to deal with. Dawn, dressed in red pyjama's, burst into the room and came to a crashing halt at the sight of them.

"Willow!" She exclaimed "You're back! I thought you were Buffy."

"Why where is Buffy?" Willow asked with concern lacing her voice. The red head took a few steps towards Dawn but Faith stayed back by the doorway.

"She went out on patrol hours ago" Dawn was obviously worried "she's usually back by now."

"Alright well I'll ring Buffy and if she needs us we'll go help" Willow replied, giving the girl a reassuring pat on her shoulder.

Dawn looked relieved by Willows words and relaxed a little. It was only then that Dawn actually noticed Faith's presence in the room. She didn't looked quite as stunned as Faith had expected her too but then Dawn had never shown any real malice towards Faith.

"Faith, you got released!" It was more a statement of fact from Buffy's younger sister rather than a question.

"Yeah, Willow's doing" Faith replied, relieved by Dawn's cheery tone and body language. In fact the girl almost seemed happy to see her and was practically bouncing on her toes.

"It's good to have you back" the young girl finally declared, bounding across the room and giving Faith a hug. It took Faith by surprise and she dropped the bag of clothes she had been holding, but she didn't resist Dawn, she just patted her on the back and let her get on with it.

Faith watched Willow take out her mobile phone and ring Buffy; it seemed to take the blonde slayer a while to answer.

"Buff" Willow finally spoke "where are you? Dawn is having a hernia here!"

There was a long gap whilst Buffy must have been replying and Faith waited patiently to find out what was going on, Dawn on the other hand was pacing.

"That's miles away! I'll drive down and pick you up but be careful if there are loads of them" Willow seemed shocked by whatever Buffy was telling her.

"I'm coming, don't let Willow leave without me" Dawn turned to Faith and said firmly before dashing of in the direction she came. It looked like Willow was going to break away from her phone conversation and protest but then thought better of it.

"Okay, on our way, bye" Willow finished the conversation after a few more seconds and placed the phone back in her jacket pocket. She didn't instantly explain the situation to Faith but instead she went to a small chest by the door and opened it, taking out a couple of wooden stakes. She pocketed one and tossed the other to Faith.

"Vampires" Faith stated "you said something on the phone about loads of them, how many?"

"Buffy said she'd seen about five or six going into a disserted building" Willow replied "it's a road of old houses that's about to be ripped down and redeveloped."

"That really is miles away" Dawn joined the conversation as she appeared in the doorway. To Faith's amusement, the young girl hadn't wasted time changing and had merely shoved a coat and pumps on over her pyjamas. She was also carrying one of the huge crossbow's Buffy used to shoot wooden arrows from.

"You had that in your room?" Willow was clearly referring to the crossbow that Dawn was now swaggering across the room with towards the front door.

"For practise, how else do you think I got such a good aim?" Dawn replied cheerfully "Well come on!"

Willow gave Faith a horrified look but all Faith could feel was amusement at the idea of Dawn firing a crossbow in her bedroom. She just hoped the target wasn't on the girl's door or one day there was going to be a serious accident.

* * *

The fifteen minute drive through the city was spent with Dawn giving Faith a blow by blow account of all the demons and vampires they had faced since moving to Cleveland. Willow had kept quiet and just observed the interaction between the two, pleased at Dawn's positive reaction to Faith's arrival.

Faith seemed to be amused by Dawn's eagerness to tell the tales and Willow couldn't help but smile at the brunette slayer who was sat in the front passenger seat. It was a good job Dawn was in the back because some of her arm movements as she re-accounted some of the fights where on the dangerously wild side. If Dawn had been in the passenger seat she would have probably accidently knocked Willow unconscious.

As they reached the street Buffy was on though Dawn went quiet and instead occupied herself with looking out for Buffy. Faith was looking too but she seemed to be surveying the area more than seeking Buffy.

"Stop" Faith suddenly said about two thirds of the way down the street.

"What?" Willow braked and looked around but she couldn't see anything of interest, there was no sign of Buffy.

"That house is the only fully bordered up one" Faith pointed at the house just in front and to the left of them.

Willow wouldn't have noticed that even if she had drove up and down the road for an hour, it was the kind of small detail a slayer would pick up on though. If there was a vampire nest then they would have to ensure no daylight got in or they would be dust. So the vampires will have chosen a house that was fully bordered up or completed the job themselves.

Faith didn't wait for a reply and was already out the car and heading for the sidewalk by the house. Willow and Dawn clambered out the car after her and caught her up on the sidewalk, where the brunette slayer stood looking thoughtful.

"Something isn't right" Faith declared when Willow joined her "It's too quiet."

She was right, Willow hadn't thought about it until Faith pointed it out but it really was silent. In a disserted area like this you wouldn't expect vampires to be silent, in fact you'd expect there to be music and blood curdling screaming. That was without the presence of the slayer, with Buffy around there should be the sounds of braking windows and mayhem.

"Stay close" Faith instructed, grabbing the sleeve of Willow's coat and pulling her along with her as she made her way around the side of the house. Willow could feel the tension virtually dripping of Faith and knew the slayers senses were on red alert. Dawn followed right behind Willow, loading one of the arrows she had stored in her pocket into the crossbow as they walked.

Before they reached the rear of the house Faith suddenly stopped and gestured to them to be quiet by putting her fingers on her lips. She then pressed her ear to one of the planks that boarded up the large broken window they had stopped at and listened. Willow couldn't hear a thing but obviously Faith and her alert slayer senses had heard something or someone.

Faith glanced at Willow and Dawn and mouthed the word 'Buffy' at them. Willow decided to join Faith at the window and mimicked the slayer by putting her ear to the plank. She could faintly hear Buffy saying something but she couldn't make out what. Then she heard something much clearer, a threatening man's voice, telling Buffy she was outnumbered. He said that he had never had slayers blood before but was looking forward to it; he'd heard it was a delicacy.

Faith gestured for Willow to move back so she complied, stepping back to Dawn and giving the brunette slayer the space to do whatever she needed to do. Faith gave the two of them a wink before stepping back and jumping into the boarding feet first, sending it clattering into the room. Within seconds Faith had followed it into the room and was stood by the windowsill, with several shocked faces looking back at her.

Willow and Dawn stepped closer to the window so they could get a better view and block the exit of any vampires. Willow noted that although Buffy had looked shocked to see Faith, the look had almost turned to relief. Considering Buffy was stood in a room surrounded by nine vampires that was no real surprise.

"Does this even thing's up a bit B?" Faith smirked, sounding ultimately confident, like the Faith of old.

"Oh I reckon so" Buffy smirked back, throwing the vampire stood closest to her a smug look. Willow deduced that this must have been the threatening vampire she had heard speaking.

"Two slayers" the vampire declared "double the delicacy"

"Oh there is nothing delicate about me mate" Faith retorted and within a blink of the eye the stake that had been in her pocket was flung across the room and into his chest. There was a seconds pause as the vampire registered what had happened and then puff, he was dust. There seemed to be another brief pause whilst the other eight vampires reacted and then there was movement and the fight broke out.

It was hard for Willow to figure out what exactly was happening as there was a lot of movement in a small confined room but she did register that the first vampire that had rushed at Faith hadn't reached the slayer. Dawn had shot it through the heart with the crossbow and Willow was impressed by how quick Dawn had reacted. Dawn had shot another one that had been pushed in front of the window by Buffy and Willow herself had staked one as it tried to escape out the window after being flung across the room by Faith.

The two slayers seemed to be working in unison, an understanding still left over from the days before Faith had gone off the rails. Willow hoped that the two of them could at least put the past behind them and find that understanding completely again. She doubted the two would ever be friends, but if they could work together as a team then that would be good enough.

The fight was over within a couple of minutes and only piles of dust remained, scattered about the floor of the room. Faith didn't wait round and jumped back out the window to rejoin Willow and Dawn. Willow suspected it was because she didn't want to face Buffy alone yet, it would be easier to face her with less hostile company present.

"Nice shooting" Faith commented at Dawn as she reached them, coming to a stop next to Willow and turning to face the window.

"Nice entrance" Dawn counter complimented, taking a sneaky glance at Buffy as she slowly climbed out the window.

"Nice timing" Buffy added "if not unexpected"

The two slayers where now face to face and although Buffy didn't look angry or hostile she did look a little weary.

"Is this a hobby Will?" Buffy turned her attention to Willow "visiting LA and bringing Faith back?"

Willow wasn't sure what to make of the remark, it wasn't aggressive enough for Willow to react to it but it was disapproving enough to irritate her. It obviously irked Faith a little too because the brunette slayer shifted and gave Willow a frustrated look.

"No" Willow replied evenly "it won't be necessary now she is here with us, will it?"

She knew she was being a bit confrontational but she couldn't help it, Buffy was using a particular tone that Willow couldn't stand. It was the tone she used when mentioning Willow and anything magical together in the same sentence.

"You're staying?" Buffy asked Faith tersely, returning her attention back to the brunette slayer.

"Yes she is" Willow cut in, bringing Buffy's attention back to her again. Both slayers and Dawn looked at her in surprise, her actions where obviously unexpected.

"What?" she asked Faith "You didn't think I'd get you released, bring you here and then just let you fend for yourself did you? You're here, you're staying, and you're part of this group."

Dawn nodded approvingly at Willow, ignoring Buffy's glare and giving Faith a nudge with her elbow. Faith smiled at the younger girl before turning her gaze back to Willow and making eye contact with her. Willow could tell that Faith was trying to convey her gratitude without making a big seen and irritating Buffy.

"You got her released?!" It took Buffy a while to register what Willow had said but when she did Buffy's voice was raised for the first time.

"Yes" Willow replied firmly "is there a problem?"

There was a couple of seconds where Willow felt like she was standing of against Buffy, the idea didn't scare her as much as it once would have; she knew she could take Buffy after all. With that thought Willow scared herself that she was thinking about the black magic again, but before she could back off Buffy did. It had happened a few times before, Buffy backing of Willow with a weary look on her face; like she was worried Willow might snap. Faith had noticed the exchange too and was looking quizzically at the two of them, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"No" Buffy finally conceded "I'm just confused as to why you kept it secret and why...Never mind, welcome to Cleveland Faith"

Although Buffy had stopped that train of thought and changed subject it was obvious to Willow what Buffy was going to say, she was going to say 'why you did it'. Buffy was meant to be Willow's best friend yet she just couldn't understand her at all, it frustrated Willow no end.

"Maybe we should get back" Dawn cut into the awkward silence that was now forming "I mean I've got a test tomorrow and you guys must be tired from travelling..."

Dawn trailed off but her words were enough to break the tension slightly and suddenly Buffy laughed.

"Are you wearing your pyjamas?" she gave her younger sister an amused look.

"Yes" Dawn replied "Do we have a problem now?!"

Buffy just laughed and walked away towards the car, leaving the others to follow on. Buffy and Dawn sat in the back seat again on the way home and although the mood had improved Buffy was silent in the back, lost in her own thoughts. Dawn on the other hand continued where she left of earlier and continued telling Faith about the vengeance demon they had met that was truly horrible to Xander and upset him over losing Anya again. Willow tried to cut out the story and just concentrate on the road. Thinking about Anya's death was upsetting enough but it also always ended up with her thinking about Tara's, and that just meant no sleep and tears all night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Willow felt remarkably guilty when they returned to the house because she had to explain to Buffy that she already had a room for Faith set up. She had done so when the others had been out a couple of days before. It made her look even more like she had been sneaking around behind everyone's backs.

The room in question was the only bedroom in the basement of the building and was located next to the weapons store and the old gym they now used as training space. When the place was a working hotel it had been the manager's living space and was therefore large and away from the guest's rooms. This isolation made it perfect for Faith because she would not be comfortable being surrounded by people 24/7.

Dawn had gone to bed but Buffy had followed Willow and Faith down to the room, probably to look at Willow's handy work. Willow had cleaned the room and decked it out with a mirror and some necessities like soap, shampoo and conditioner, towels and bed linens. She had also found an old CD player and radio and left that on the bedside table. The room looked sparse but Willow hoped Faith would make it her own over the next couple of weeks.

Once Faith knew where the room was the other two had cleared of, leaving the brunette slayer to settle in and sleep. Buffy had said very little to Willow on the way back up the stairs to their rooms, just a curt goodnight when they reached the ground floor corridor were they were located. There were six bedrooms in total on the ground floor, two of them had been turned into libraries and the four girls were in the others (Willow, Buffy, Dawn and Chloe). There were twelve on the first floor but only three of these where in use as bedrooms (for Xander, Giles and Andrew), one had been converted into the lad's game room, and one had magical supplies in whilst the rest where empty. It meant that there were plenty of rooms free if they ever needed the slayerette's back in a crisis.

Willow had quickly washed and changed into her pyjamas and crawled in to bed. She was extremely tired but she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to sleep, especially now thoughts of Tara had began to invade her head. She had been fighting them in the car but now she was on her own there seemed to be little she could do to resist them. This was a normal pattern, she'd push the thoughts aside in the day but at night they would haunt her. Tara and her meeting, getting together, being happily in love, Willow messing up, Tara coming back and then bang ...'your shirt'...the blood...the emptiness. Then the tears would come and Willow would sob for half the night before exhaustion set in and she'd sleep for three or four hours if she was lucky.

When Sunnydale had been destroyed part of her had been relieved, the Summer's house had become a prison for her. She may have moved out of the room where the shooting had occurred but it had still existed, she was still in the same house. The problem was though, that the good memories had gone with it. The college, Tara's dorm room where they had got together, the laundry room they had properly met in, the Magic Box, the cafe they liked to go to and the clearing in the forest they used to visit late at night together and watch the stars. Tara's grave had even been swallowed up by the ground, leaving Willow with nowhere to go to feel close to Tara.

All she had of Tara now was a couple of photographs she had carried on her during the battle with the first and a jumper and necklace Willow had left in England which the coven had shipped over to her. Willow often sat in her room wearing the jumper, but never wore it in front of people because they would recognise it as Tara's. She wore the necklace all the time though, but it was long and she kept it under her top, close to her heart. If anyone noticed it and recognised it as Tara's then they had never commented.

Having tossed and turned and sobbed into the pillow for well over an hour, Willow gave up on sleep and went to get a glass of water from the kitchen, which was also located on the ground floor. Rather than go back to her room, Willow instead went to the lounge area and put the TV on quietly. There was some sort of documentary about Nostradamus on one of the history channels that Willow let play but paid little intention to it.

She had been sat there for about quarter of an hour before she heard movement in the kitchen, someone else had obviously wanted a drink too. Willow didn't bother to get up and see who, whoever it was would just go back to bed and Willow didn't want any of them to see her red eyed and tear stained like this anyway.

The sound of rustling went away and Willow presumed whoever it was had gone but then she heard a creaking of a door much nearer and a familiar voice.

"Why you sat here in the dark red?"

* * *

Faith hadn't even bothered unpacking and had just collapsed on top of the bed, still fully clothed, and fell asleep. After about an hour though she had woke up with an exceptionally dry mouth and an appetite after slaying. She had gone in hunt of the kitchen, presuming it was on the same floor as the lounge and had luckily made the right turning at the top of the stairs, finding it immediately.

She'd got herself a glass of milk from the fridge and found herself some plain crisps by routing round the cupboards. After eating the crisps she had intended to go back to bed but as she reached the top of the stairs she heard a faint sound coming from the lounge. It sounded like the TV and she wondered who would still be up now. Deciding to investigate she crept quietly into the doorway and pushed the door open, not wishing to scare whoever was down there. She was surprised to see Willow curled on one of the sofa's, the girl had been just as tired as Faith, why was she still awake? Faith then noticed the red heads decidedly red eyes in the faint light from the TV, Willow had been crying.

"Why you sat here in the dark red?"

Faith wasn't entirely sure why she was starting a conversation; normally she would have just run away, not wanting to know why the girl was upset. Willow had obviously worked hard to get Faith released though and the brunette slayer felt like she had a few favours to return.

"Faith" the witch greeted "I couldn't sleep, why are you still up?"

"Hungry" Faith explained "found myself some crisps"

She could see that Willow was trying to hide her face from her and Faith felt a wave of sympathy for the girl, she looked kind of vulnerable right now.

"Are you ok red?" Faith decided to ask her "You look pretty damn down"

Willow chortled at Faith's words and shook her head in response, finally looking the slayer in the eye. It was clear to Faith now that Willow still had tears running down her face and had obviously been crying for a while. Faith seemed to be feeling fairly bold so she approached Willow and settled on the sofa next to her.

"If you don't want to talk about it then that's cool, I mean, I'm probably not the person you want to talk to about your problems but you can ... if you want I mean"

Faith felt like a bit of a fool as she stumbled over her words, her actions may have seemed confident, but when it came down to it she felt like she was on dangerous ground. Whatever was going on with Willow it was big; it had to be if she was being distant with Buffy and even standing up to her.

"Believe it or not but you are probably the only person I can talk to about this" Willow admitted, leaving Faith feeling a bit shell shocked.

"The other's don't get me Faith" Willow continued "You and me, we have more in common than I think you realise, I think you'll get me"

"What do we have in common?" Faith was confused, apart from living on the same planet she couldn't think of anything obvious.

"Did anyone tell you what happened when Tara died? The girl you met when you were in Buffy's body?" Willow asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Your girlfriend? I know you went off the rails a bit" Faith admitted "I was sorry to hear about her death Willow, she seemed really sweet when I met her"

Faith had been told a little by Fred and Gun when Willow came to LA the first time to help with their Angelus problem. She knew that Willow had gone too far with the whole magic thing in her grief but that was about all Faith had known. She had sympathy with Willow though, grief made people do crazy things, probably ten-fold if you were totally in love with the person.

"She was everything ...." Willow chocked on her words "then she was gone, shot by accident when Warren was trying to kill Buffy... I was so angry"

"That's understandable" Faith stated, wondering where this was going exactly and why it made her and Willow similar. She had a terrible feeling at the pit of her stomach that whatever Willow was going to reveal was going to be bad.

"I killed him Faith" Willow suddenly stated bluntly "I sucked up all the dark magic I could and chased him, caught him and I ... I flayed him alive"

Faith had not expected that, Willow was a killer; she had killed a human on purpose. Although Faith was shocked she could not blame the girl, Faith would have probably wanted revenge too if she had been in Willow's situation. The difference was that Faith had always had a dark side to her, but Willow had been so innocent and wholly good person when Faith had known her before. It was hard to picture the girl doing anything bad, even in rage; she must have really loved Tara.

"I know what you must be thinking" Willow continued "you must be wondering why you had to be punished and I'm still walking free, I don't think its fair either don't worry"

"Actually I wasn't" Faith replied honestly "I was just thinking how much you must have cared about her to react like that"

"It wasn't just about her Faith" Willow snorted "It was about the power ... I was addicted to the magic, now I suppose you'd say I'm a recovering addict"

Willow was clearly ashamed of herself and Faith felt at a loss for words. Then she remembered the confrontation with Buffy at the vampire nest.

"They're afraid of you!" she stated out loud "Jesus that's why Buffy backed off you before!"

"They are afraid of what I could do if I turned all dark and evil again" Willow admitted "They are right to be apprehensive, they just don't help very much though"

"How do you mean?" Faith quizzed, she had so many questions but she decided to follow Willow's train of though for now.

"They don't let me practise magic but then they need me for a big spell and it's like _Willow do that and don't go evil_, but I can't build up control that way; makes it harder" Willow explained.

"You need to be doing practise spells and things to make you mentally stronger" Faith deduced, following Willow's meaning. It was probably like slaying in that way, you could go out every night and kick vampires about but you couldn't become a great fighter and slayer unless you put the hours in the gym in. It was about mental and physical sharpness as much as it was about pure brutal slayer strength. Willow was a powerful witch, but she needed to refine her skills and put the time in if she wanted to perfect her control. It made sense to her so surely it should make sense to Buffy too, if she'd only bother to think about it. Now Faith could understand the divide between Willow and Buffy and why Willow didn't feel like Buffy or anyone understood her.

"I'm not sure I follow why they are scared of you though because as terrible as revenge is, it's not exactly the end of the world is it?" Faith decided to take a bit of control over the conversation.

"That came next" Willow answered quietly "I killed Warren, then decided if there was no Tara then life was worthless... so I tried to end the world but Xander stopped me"

"Oh" Faith muttered before registering the last part "Xander!!!"

"I know" Willow smiled for the first time "I battered him but he kept telling me he loved me even though I was all veiny and evil"

"Go Xander" Faith smiled too, actually feeling some fondness for the man. She knew it would quickly dissipate in the morning when he kicked off because of her presence there.

"Still not wondering why you got lumped in prison and I didn't?" Willow asked bitterly.

"I needed prison Willow" Faith pointed out "I was on a destructive pattern that I couldn't seem to stop on my own"

"Where as I had friends who supported me" Willow agreed "like we should have done for you in the first place"

Faith was shocked by Willow's words again; she had never expected anything that sounded like an apology from the scoobies. What she had done was wrong but they had shown her no support or compassion and she had resented it and them for it. Here was Willow though, seemingly putting right a long time wrong.

"Is that why you had me released?" Faith asked "because you felt guilty about all this stuff?"

"Yes and no" Willow replied cryptically "you proved yourself against the first Faith, you shouldn't be punished forever"

Faith felt like crying and laughing all at once, even if it was only Willow that felt that way then it was enough. She had no need for everyone to accept her with open arms, forgiveness would be nice but she would be happy enough if only Willow and Dawn actually liked her. Her conflict of emotions left her quite blank though and it took her a minute to get her head together.

"There is a question I wanted to ask yesterday" she spoke up again "What happened to Kennedy? You two were dating weren't you?"

"Argh" Willow groaned "Not anymore, I don't know what processed me she was so irritating ... I think I was just lonely and she pestered me"

"She was irritating" Faith agreed, relieved that nothing bad had happened to the girl that had made Willow even more upset. Willow then did something Faith really wasn't used to; she flopped down from a sitting position and laid her head in Faith's lap. The slayer did not protest the girls actions, Willow must have been worn down, exhausted and emotionally wrecked. Faith decided to try and do the whole supportive friend thing and just let the girl collapse on her leg. After a few minutes Willow had become very still and much more relaxed. Her talk of prison had worried Faith though; the idea of Willow in a jail like the one Faith had been stuck in was actually quite sickening. If Willow didn't use her powers to protect herself then she would be dead meat in prison, she could never stand up for herself physically against another inmate.

"You seem to think that I should want you punished the same way I was" Faith whispered to her "You are so wrong; prison swallow you up and eat you whole red and I would never want that for you ... you are not a bad person"

There was a slight murmur from Willow in reply so Faith knew she had heard her, but Willow was drifting off to sleep. Faith let her; she had guessed that Willow was lacking sleep when she first saw her outside the prison; so she wasn't going to stop her getting some now.

Within minutes Willow was asleep, so Faith leant her upper body and head against the arm of the sofa and tried to get comfortable. It wasn't great but she had slept in worse places and after about twenty minutes she drifted off to sleep too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Buffy had only got a couple of hours sleep before dashing upstairs to speak to Xander and Giles before they went to work. Xander worked part time on a building site and Giles and Andrew ran a mystical book shop that was located just down the road from the hotel. It wasn't a massive money spinner but it gave them all some dispensable cash that the watcher's didn't have control of. Buffy had a part time secretarial job in the local college three afternoons a week, it was boring as hell but it stopped the neighbours being too suspicious about where the group's money came from.

She found Xander and Giles in the hallway about to leave, so she told them to stay for a minute and dragged Andrew out his room, half dressed, so she could speak to them all.

"Did something happen on patrol?" Giles asked when they were all gathered together at the top of the stairs.

"No...Well yes, I had to deal with a vampire nest" Buffy started, "but I had help, Faith is here!"

"Faith?" Xander was first to react "Isn't she meant to be locked up still?"

"I don't understand exactly what's going on but Willow has had something to do with her release" Buffy continued to explain, ignoring Xander's hostile tone for now.

"Willow?!" Xander exclaimed "Why would Willow want Faith released?"

Buffy didn't know either, so she had no idea how to respond to Xander. She was really relieved when Giles did so instead.

"Well Faith was very helpful last year" Giles remarked "maybe Willow thought she'd earned her freedom."

"That's crazy" Xander raged "why do it behind our backs?"

"Well two slayers have to be better than one right?" It was a weak attempt by Andrew to diffuse the situation but Buffy appreciated him trying. Not that she didn't understand Xander's anger, she was angry too but she was not willing to show it as much.

"Only if she doesn't go psycho bitch on us again" Xander snapped back, instantly making Andrew shrink backwards away from him.

This time it was Giles that stepped in to calm the situation, putting a firm hand on Xander's shoulder. Xander gave him a reproachful look but he did calm slightly and put his hands up in defeat.

"She's here now, we can't change that" Giles said calmly "now we just need to give her some support."

"He's right" Buffy agreed "listen I'm as uncomfortable about this as you are Xander, especially the Willow thing, but Faith is seriously useful in a fight!"

Xander nodded in response but his expression remained just as irked. Giles looked flustered by the situation although he seemed more concerned about Willow's actions rather than Faith's presence. Andrew just looked nervous and very topless, neither of which was to do with Faith. After a few seconds of silence Andrew slinked of back to his room to finish getting ready.

Buffy wished Xander wouldn't be so snappy with Andrew, the two got on well most of the time but Xander lost his rag with him a lot. It was nothing to do with Andrew being irritating most of the time and Buffy suspected it was to do with Anya laying her life down to save the young blonde. It must have been hard for Xander, knowing that it could have been Anya there with them not Andrew, the woman Xander loved.

"I'm getting breakfast" Xander finally spoke up before stalking of down the stairs towards the kitchen. That left just Buffy and Giles, the later needed to go open the shop so Buffy began to walk with him down the stairs and towards the front door.

"Why do you think Willow was so secretive over this?" Buffy doubted Giles had the answers either but she felt the need to ask.

"I'm not sure" Giles admitted "I suspect she thought some would be against the idea so it would be easier to turn up with her and everyone would just have to ..."

"Deal with it" Buffy finished of Giles sentence "that doesn't explain why she wanted her released in the first place though."

Giles looked like he was about to respond to her in a very serious way because he stopped in the doorway to the living space and took his glasses off. When Giles took his glasses of and cleaned them it usually meant that something serious was going on, it was like a nervous habit. He never started speaking though; instead he just stood and stared into the living room. Buffy peered round him to look at what he was staring at and felt a little stunned. There, on one of the sofas', was a fast asleep Willow with her head in Faith's lap.

* * *

Faith had woken up at the sound of someone coming down the stairs at speed, whoever it was did not enter the living room and instead headed into the kitchen. Willow was still asleep on Faith's leg and the slayer allowed herself to have a closer look at Willow's features. The red head was paler than she had been a year ago and the bags under her eyes where prominent when the makeup was washed off. She was also thinner than Faith had remembered her being and the girl was already thin at the best of times. In fact Willow looked a little ill and even whilst sleeping she looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Noise in the corridor outside the living room took her attention away from the sleeping girl and Faith braced herself for whoever was about to walk through the door. She was almost relieved when she heard Buffy's voice as the doorway opened.

She craned her head around to find Giles and Buffy stood very still, looking over at her like she had three heads or something. Then Faith remembered the sleeping Willow and realised what they were looking at.

"Erm...morning" Faith greeted, stuck between wanting Willow to awake and help explain and not wanting to wake her because she clearly needed the sleep.

"Faith" Giles acknowledged her politely but neither he nor Buffy looked comfortable with the situation.

"What's going on?" Xander's voice cut through the uncomfortable silence like a chain saw ripping through a tree. He was suddenly in the doorway behind Giles and Buffy and he looked more livid than uncomfortable when he spotted Faith and the sleeping Willow.

"Xander" Faith tried to sound polite but it just ended up sounding a little terse, she tried to remind herself that he wasn't a complete ass and that he had saved Willow and the world.

"What the fuck?" It was the same question he'd asked before but more irritably phrased.

"Sleepover"

Faith physically jumped when she heard Willow's sleepy voice, she hadn't realised the girl had woke up. She must have been awake long enough to have heard Xander's entrance or she wouldn't have known what the question actually was.

Willow sat up and rubbed her eyes, giving Faith a sneaky nervous look that the slayer doubted the others had seen. Giles looked uncomfortable still but not irate, Buffy looked a little irate and Xander just looked like he was about to take off or explode.

"Sleepover!" he finally exclaimed "What? Have you two been pen pals or something? I didn't know you could write Faith"

"Oh piss off" Faith bit back irritably, completely forgetting her plans of being polite and calm towards everyone.

"We were talking and we must have fallen asleep" Willow jumped in "is that a problem?"

"No" Xander was practically shouting "the problem is that you went to LA, took a wrong turn to the gift shop and brought back a convict instead, that's the problem!"

"Ex-con" Willow corrected him "and I went to LA for the sole purpose of bringing Faith back."

"Angel knew" Buffy had not spoken up until this point "you and Angel worked together on this behind our backs."

It wasn't a question and Willow did not treat it as one, remaining silent but defiant. Faith felt uncomfortable, especially as she was sat between Willow and the others, in the crossfire. She had expected this argument to take place behind her back, not right in front of her face.

"Yet you didn't tell us" Buffy seemed frustrated and angry "how long ago did Angel ask for your help?"

"He didn't" Willow replied "I asked for his."

This was like a bombshell hitting the room. For a minute it had all seemed to make sense to Buffy, she thought it was Angel who wanted Faith released and Willow just helped. Instead reality hit hard, Willow had enlisted Angel's help.

"Faith didn't even know until she walked out the gate to find me there" Willow was quietly spoken suddenly, Faith wasn't sure why exactly, perhaps she was ashamed.

Xander had obviously had enough information for one day and he pushed passed Giles, storming across the room and out of the front door. The door slammed behind him, leaving another uncomfortable silence in the room. It was broken after a few seconds by Dawn's arrival into the room from the other hallway; she was far more chipper than everyone else.

"Morning!" she said cheerfully "I heard the door slam Faith so I presume Xander knows you're here?"

"He's not best pleased is he?" Andrew stated as he followed Dawn through the door, Faith suspected he had been stood in the hallway for a while but had been too nervous to show his face.

"I think it's time for you and me to go" Giles suddenly spoke up "you too Dawn or you will be late for college"

Both Andrew and Dawn seemed disappointed to be dragged off but both agreed without protesting and within minutes the room had cleared so that it was just Faith and Willow on the sofa and Buffy in one doorway still.

"I'm going to bed" Willow stated "I'm sure I'll need all the energy I can get to deal with Xander when he returns later."

Neither Faith nor Buffy protested as Willow stormed out towards the downstairs bedrooms, although Faith felt incredibly guilty for being the cause of such unrest. Now it just left the two slayers in the room together and Faith decided to have the 'conversation' with Buffy before the blonde slayer started it with her.

"I think my arrival has caused a stir"

Buffy didn't respond, but she made her way over to Faith and sat herself on one of the nearby sofas. This signalled to Faith that Buffy was definitely ready to talk about her arrival and her role in Cleveland.

"Listen B" Faith cleared her throat, "I know I messed up big time but I'm older and wiser now and I have control of this whole slayer thing."

"I know" Buffy admitted "I don't disapprove of you being here"

"You don't?" Faith was a little shocked by the other slayers revelation.

"No" Buffy reaffirmed "you are a slayer, this is the hellmouth...it's where you should be...just don't mess up again."

"I won't" Faith said firmly "I owe some people too much to mess up."

"Like Willow?" Buffy was obviously confused by Willow's role in Faith's freedom but seemed interested to hear Faith talk about it.

"Yeah like Willow" Faith's tone automatically softened "I owe red a lot."

Buffy seemed to be waiting for Faith to elaborate on the topic of Willow but Faith stayed silent, not wanting to betray the red heads confidence about what they had talked about in the night. Buffy could obviously tell that Faith was holding back but to the brunette slayer's surprise she did not push the topic. Instead Buffy got up and headed towards the hallway door slowly.

"I'm going back to bed too" the blonde slayer explained "maybe you should do the same if you want to be well rested before patrol tonight"

With that Buffy was gone, leaving Faith feeling kind of pleased that Buffy seemed okay with her being there. Deciding to take Buffy's advice, Faith headed downstairs to her bedroom to get a couple of hours more sleep.

* * *

Willow woke up around midday and felt incredibly hungry, having skipped breakfast to go back to bed. She had a quick shower and dressed before making her way to the kitchen to find lunch.

Chloe was scuttling round the kitchen when Willow arrived and had made a load of chicken sandwiches that were stacked on a plate on the sideboard.

"Willow" Chloe greeted "Buffy said to tell you she had gone out to check out the remains of that nest in the daylight...you've only just missed her"

"Thanks" Willow replied "Have you met Faith yet?"

"I think she's still in bed" Chloe responded "I've made you both some sandwiches though"

Willow picked up the plate that she had already spotted and thanked Chloe, deciding to take them down to Faith and see how she was holding up after the welcome party that morning. The slayer wasn't in her room though and for a brief second Willow feared that the brunette slayer had left. Then she registered the sound of a punch bag being hit and realised that Faith was in the training gym working out.

When she entered the large room she was slightly shocked to find a fairly scantily clad and sweaty Faith. The brunette was wearing her old jeans and canvas shoes with only her bra covering her top half. Beads of sweat were rolling down her face from her brow and some were running down her chest and in-between her breasts. She must have been really pushing herself to have got that sweaty because slayers were like super fit or something and rarely had to exert themselves enough to sweat at all.

"Enjoying the view?" Willow didn't know when Faith had registered her presence there but she was rather embarrassed to be caught staring at the girl. She hadn't really been checking her out but she had to admit that Faith was a pretty damn good looking example of human being.

"I am gay and you are half naked, besides I was worried you where melting" Willow responded, referring to Faith's hot and sweaty state.

"Isn't it witches that do that?" Faith replied playfully, stepping away from the punch bag and towards Willow.

"Get a bucket of water and we'll find out" Willow quipped back, enjoying the banter. She was also trying very hard not to let her eyes wander over too much of Faith as the slayer approached her.

"I'm about to get a shower" Faith wiggled her eyebrows playfully, "I'll be even less dressed then."

"Thanks for the imagery" Willow smirked, "but I only came down here to share food with you."

"I thought you were just here to tease me" Faith teased, "by waving your food in front of me."

Willow laughed and reached the plate out to Faith so the slayer could take some sandwiches. Faith took a couple and headed towards the gym horse, jumping on it so she was astride it.

"Take a seat" Faith gestured to the gym horse she was sat on and Willow made her way over to her, handing the slayer the plate so she could climb on. There was a wooden box by it which Willow used to give her enough extra height to jump on the horse and sit side seat next to Faith.

"I'm not a big fan of horses" she joked, taking back the plate off Faith and taking a sandwich.

"Me neither" Faith admitted with a mouthful of food "this one doesn't run off with you though so it's five by five red."

"Or buck" Willow agreed "I had a bad childhood evil pony birthday party thing."

"Me too" admitted Faith "not a birthday thing but an evil pony thing."

There was a comfortable silence whilst they finished eating the sandwich's in hand and then they both reached for more.

"Buffy was okay with me this morning" Faith stated suddenly.

"I knew she would be" Willow replied "It's me she's pissed with."

Faith went quiet again and Willow wondered what the brunette slayer was thinking. She had been surprised when Faith had mentioned about having a bad pony experience as a child too, she had never heard Faith refer to her past before.

"Do you still have family Faith?" Willow hadn't really meant to ask the question out loud and was fearful she had overstepped the mark slightly.

"I don't think so" Faith replied unsteadily, "not that I know of anyway."

Willow was relieved that Faith didn't totally back off because of the question, she did seem uneasy though so Willow decided not to ask anything else for now.

"My parents are in Atlanta now I think" Willow tried to change topic, "they don't have much time for me...think I'm wasting my life because I didn't go to Yale or Harvard"

"I bet they don't get the whole hellmouth thing" Faith replied "I can imagine what they are like after seeing what you were like in high school!"

"Innocent, ignorant, geeky and stuffy?" Wilow asked, not bothering to get offended by what Faith was suggesting.

"I was going to say naive and overprotected but okay red" Faith chuckled, "either way I prefer you now."

"Cocky but depressed recovering addict?" Willow smirked, wondering what Faith would say.

"No, I like the gayness" Faith laughed "It shows how confident and independent you've got."

Willow laughed too; she hadn't had such an easy conversation with anyone in weeks. Occasionally she and Dawn would have a good chat but even Dawn got a little funny with her if something happened to make her eyes blacken or she had to use magic.

"I am going to get that shower" Faith declared after finishing her fourth sandwich, "they maybe we could go for a walk around the local area and you can finish Dawn's attempts to fill me in on life in Cleveland!"

"Sounds like a plan" Willow agreed, taking sneaky peeks at Faith as the slayer backward rolled of the gym horse and made her way out the door of the gym. The girl was still a bit of an enigma to Willow but she kind of liked that about her. Willow would have never expected her to stay on the sofa with her last night, firstly whilst Willow was upset and secondly whilst Willow slept. It seemed that the conversation between them and Willow's disclosures had actually bonded them a little though and she had been warmed by Faith's concern about her. She would never forget how scared she was when Faith had held a knife to her neck those years ago but she had certainly forgiven her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Faith had showered quickly and changed into a pair of her new jeans and vest top before finding Willow in the living room. She was sat at the table in the corner on her laptop, totally engrossed in whatever she was doing. The sight of Willow's head buried in a computer screen was not a new one to Faith and it was comforting to see the girl doing something so normal.

"It's nice to see that some things don't change" Faith commented, causing Willow to jump slightly. The red head turned in her chair so that she was now facing Faith rather than the computer.

"Oh I'm still the computer geek" Willow blushed slightly before turning back to the computer and closing it.

"Somebody has to be" Faith remarked, "I actually know how to use one a bit now...we had classes in the big house."

"I bet they didn't teach you how to hack into anything" Willow grinned as she made her way over to Faith, "I suppose that would have been a bit counterproductive."

"It's healthy to have illegal hobbies" Faith replied, "I was always big on underage drinking!"

"Well today we shall keep ourselves on the right side of the law" Willow was smirking again, "We'll try a walk and some healthy retail therapy."

They had walked East first towards the local shopping district and had bought some more clothes for Faith. Willow had even indulged this time and had bought a new pair of jeans and some comfy canvas shoes. They had then stopped in a coffee shop for some mocha's and chocolate cheesecake before stopping of and Giles' shop to say hello.

Giles and Andrew had both been pleasant and Giles had even explained a little about the shop to Faith. The books in the front of the shop where ones Giles would sell to anyone in the general public but there was a selection of more 'advanced' books in the back. Faith had taken advanced to mean that the books contained information and spells that where specialist or sinister in nature. Giles had also pulled Faith aside subtly and told her to just keep her patience with Xander because he would come round eventually. Faith had been put at ease a little bit more by the visit to the shop because she now knew that Giles was okay with her return too and seemed willing to give her a chance.

They had looped around to the west on the way back to the hotel so Faith could see where the nearest graveyard was and some of the other common vampire haunts. The hellmouth was located under this district of Cleveland and most of the action was limited to this area, although Willow said that it did spread occasionally. It still seemed like a large area for the gang to cover though and Faith now understood why Buffy had been out so late the night before on patrol.

During the shopping trip Willow had filled Faith in on what happened in the first couple of months in Cleveland, how they had got the hotel and reformed the council. She also talked about how much they had all struggled to get over the loss of Sunnydale and friends and loved ones such as Spike and Anya. According to Willow, Xander had been an emotional wreck because of the loss of Anya and his blindness in one eye. It had taken him a few months to really calm himself down and get a part time job and move on with life. Willow had explained about him walking out on Anya at the altar a couple of years ago, she thought that it may have added to his guilt because he had been such a coward. Faith did feel sorry for him, for the fact he never truly got to make up for his monumental fuck up. It reminded her how lucky she was to be in Cleveland now, with the chance to show she was the good slayer too.

On the walk around the graveyard the conversation had turned to events that had occurred in these locations, like vampire and demon attacks. It was all interesting information to know but it seemed clear to Faith that it was pretty much like Sunnydale, there was obviously little variation from one hellmouth to the other. They had actually walked around this area for well over an hour and had basically done an early evening patrol. Faith wondered if Willow had done so on purpose or if it was just force of habit.

They where nearly back at the hotel when they saw Buffy approaching them from across the road, she did not look surprised to see them out and about.

"I've been sent to bring you back to the house" Buffy explained, "Chloe has cooked a huge dinner so we can all sit down together and do some team bonding!"

Wonderful, thought Faith, team bonding was likely to mean team arguing between her and Xander. The irritating thing was that she actually didn't want to fight with him but she knew he would be determined to have his say about her.

"Is it that late?" Willow piped up, "I didn't realise we'd been walking around that long."

"Giles said you where showing Faith around" Buffy replied, "see anything interesting?"

"Nothing that goes bump in the night" Faith chipped in, "some nice headstones though."

"It's a bit more upmarket that Sunnydale" agreed Buffy, "Vamp's aren't though."

* * *

Willow had enjoyed the afternoon with Faith and was again startled about how easy Faith was to converse with when you actually gave her a chance. Faith actually seemed willing to talk about anything, whether it was bad fashion, Giles' shop, cakes, the loss of Anya and Spike or demon killing.

Whilst walking back from the graveyard to the hotel Willow was in full babble mode about a really evil demon they had dealt with that only ate children's livers. It had been a really hard demon to defeat because it was rock solid and carried a sword like weapon made of stone.

Buffy's arrival had halted the conversation about crazy child eating demons and brought Willow back to the reality of facing the others again. Not that Buffy seemed to be too much of a problem, in fact after recovering from the shock of Faith's arrival last night she now seemed fairly at ease with Faith.

Once Buffy had confirmed that the two had been on an uneventful walk they all headed back to the hotel and to Chloe's cooking. They had literally walked into the dining room, placed their bags on the floor, sat down and had their food served. Chloe was certainly a domestic god send; it would have been total chaos around feeding time everyday if she wasn't there.

Faith and Willow where sat next to each other at one end, with Dawn and Buffy facing them. Chloe had positioned Xander opposite Giles at the other end of the table, obviously mindful of how Xander had reacted to Faith that morning.

There was only about thirty seconds of silence before Xander couldn't resist opening his gob though. Willow had been surprised that he lasted that long considering how he'd been earlier on but she'd hoped, wrongly apparently, that he had already got it out of his system.

"I hear you've been shopping Faith" he stated, "you've decided you're staying then I presume?"

The room was silent, nobody seemed to be eating, all eyes were on Faith and how she would react to Xander.

"Willow took me to get some clothes" she said pleasantly, "and then she took me to the graveyard."

"The perfect date" Xander's voice was dripping with sarcasm and Willow cringed, knowing that any second this was going to blow up big time.

"Xander" Giles suddenly spoke up, his tone was gentle but there was a warning in his voice. Obviously Giles was concerned about either Faith or Willow losing their temper with Xander.

"Oh great, let's all pretend we're okay with this" Xander continued, "happy happy!"

"I'm happy" Dawn cut in, "no pretending here."

Dawn's approach actually seemed to silence Xander but not calm him; instead he picked up his plate and fork and stormed out the dining room. No one followed him; he really did need time to cool off on his own. It left the room in a stained silence though whilst everyone finished their beef lasagne.

Chloe had made gateaux for desert and whilst she was plating it up Dawn took the initiative to get everyone speaking again.

"What did you think of Giles' shop Faith?" she asked cheerfully, "It's his and Andrews pride and joy!"

"I'm no expert on book shops" Faith laughed, "It may be the first one I've been in by choice!"

"Well than it must be special then" Dawn replied, "or Willow is just very persuasive!"

There were a few chuckles around the table and Willow couldn't help but laugh too. Dawn really was maturing quickly now and she always seemed so good at conversing with people. It reminded Willow of what a good job they had all done in bringing her up after Joyce's death.

"I didn't do a thing" Willow joined in with the conversation, "did I Faith?"

"There was that thing about turning me into a frog" Faith quipped, giving Willow a cheeky smile. Willow elbowed her playfully and most of the table laughed at Faith's joke.

"Only good looking princes get turned into frogs silly" Willow corrected her, using her best juvenile voice.

"Of course" Faith agreed, "so what do good looking slayers get turned into then?"

"Vampire bait" Dawn cut in, causing everyone to laugh this time, even Giles.

"That's tonight's fun" Faith replied, "well sort of...me and B are going vampire baiting tonight!"

It was at this point that Chloe began passing bowls of Gateaux around the table. The cake came and went really quickly because it was really good cake! Willow was sure Faith had inhaled hers it disappeared out of the bowl that fast.

"I'm going to chuck my stuff in my room" Faith spoke up, "then I'm ready when you are B."

"I'll be about ten minutes" Buffy replied, still only half way through her piece of cake. Faith gave Willow's foot a playful kick as she stood up and gathered up her bags, practically skipping out the room.

"She's cheery" it was a funny thing for someone like Dawn to say as she was the queen of cheery.

"I think she enjoyed stalking around the graveyard" Willow explained, "home from home!"

"She does seem glad to be here" Giles spoke up again, "I hope it works out...I think it will."

* * *

Buffy left Willow and Giles discussing Faith at the dinner table and went to find the aforementioned brunette slayer. She was already back in the living room and was sat quietly on the sofa Buffy had found her and Willow on that morning.

"I thought Xander may be in here" Faith admitted, "but he must have gone upstairs."

"I think it would be best to leave him brooding for a bit" Buffy admitted, "I think it's a good idea for you to talk to him eventually though."

"You may have to tell me when the times right" Faith admitted, "I'm not very well practised in this kind of stuff."

"I'm useless too" Buffy had never been good at diplomacy, "Dawn is the expert at calming things down!"

"I noticed" Faith agreed "regular little peacekeeper you got there!"

Buffy smiled at Faith, it was easy to get into your stride and talk to Faith when she was in a good mood. She remembered it well, when Faith had arrived in graduation year, they had actually worked quiet well together for a while. They had a natural rhythm they fell into which still seemed to exist the previous year against the first when they fought together.

They had set of to patrol together tonight so it would be a long one, but Faith's arrival now meant that in future the two slayers could split the patrolling. It would mean that one could go East and the other West, cutting down the hours they had to spend out on patrol. The district was a hell of a big area for one person to cover on their own, even if they where a super fit slayer.

They had gone down towards the street where Buffy had discovered the nest the night before first. Buffy had checked it out again over lunch time and there was no sign of any more vampire activity then, it didn't hurt to check again though.

Then they had gone down some of the dark alleyways and streets around a couple of slightly dingy clubs that usually had high vampire activity. They found two lurking around the back of one of the clubs, waiting for some helpless drunk to come out to pee in the alley or a couple looking for privacy. It had taken seconds to dust them both, especially as Faith approached them first whilst Buffy remained in the shadows, they had no idea Faith was a slayer until it was too late for them.

They had then followed the main road round through the now fairly deserted street of shops by Giles' place and took a look down the alleyways there. There was no sign of any vampire activity around this area at all. There had been no conversation during the patrol so far but it had not been uncomfortable. Now however Faith seemed to be very uncomfortable and the brunette slayer stopped and looked down an alleyway they had just cleared for about the fourth time.

"This is gonna sound weird but I feel like we are being watched" Faith spoke up, "like something is stalking us."

Buffy stepped back to Faith and looked down the alleyway again, not seeing anything suspicious. She had felt a little on edge earlier on but that feeling had passed and Buffy wasn't sure what to make of Faith's comment.

"There was nothing down there" Buffy reminded her, "maybe your senses are just on red alert because you haven't done this for a while."

"Yeah maybe" Faith didn't seem convinced but she began to walk again, effectively ending the conversation.

They had then looped round to the graveyard and spent at least two hours patrolling between the headstones and the tombs. There was more action to be had there and they came across several vampires, including one newcomer who was fresh out of the grave. There was also a couple of run of the mill ugly demons who seemed to be trying to dig up a fresh grave for a corpse sized snack.

Faith seemed to have another 'creeped' out moment during their stint in the graveyard. She had stopped and took several looks at some trees at the edge of the site. This time she didn't talk to Buffy about it though and just moved on in silence.

They had been gone for about five hours by the time they returned to the hotel and it was nearly midnight. The hotel was in darkness and everything was silent so they both made their way carefully to their rooms. After a quick shower and change Buffy headed into the kitchen to grab a snack after her excursions and was not surprised to find that Faith was already there. The brunette was wearing blue shorts and a vest top which typically showed of plenty more of Faith than was necessary. There was still cake left over so Faith had tucked into a piece of that whilst Buffy took a pack of crisps and a glass of water. She was about to leave Faith too it and go to bed when Willow appeared in the room wearing purple and lilac stripy pyjama's and a white dressing gown.

"You're up late" Buffy stated, wondering why Willow wasn't asleep yet like everyone else.

"Couldn't you sleep again" Faith asked softly as Willow approached her, it was only just allowed enough for Buffy to hear. Willow shook her head at the brunette slayer as she passed her on route to the fridge.

Buffy suddenly felt uncomfortable being there, it seemed like Faith had a better idea what was going on with Willow then she did and although she didn't like it, there seemed like there was little she could do about it.

"I'm off to bed" she muttered irritably, not waiting for an answer before leaving the two of them to it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Willow had been surprised to find Faith and Buffy in the kitchen when she went in for a drink; she hadn't heard them return from patrol. She was glad that they seemed relaxed and unscathed though; she had been worried that they would scrap with each other.

Buffy had excused herself almost immediately, leaving Willow and Faith alone together again. Willow poured herself some filtered water from the fridge and went and joined Faith by one of the counters. The toned slayer was wearing one of the short and vest top sets they had bought in LA and Willow felt much safer next to her so she couldn't see all the well muscled leg's they revealed. Not that it stopped her being able to see all the cleavage and rippling biceps but it was better than standing across the room ogling at her.

"Cake" Faith offered her a spoonful of Chloe's rather tasty gateaux, which Willow accepted. It did cross Willow's mind that Faith spoon feeding her cake could be seen as flirtatious but she was too weary and tired to give it much thought.

"How was patrol?" Willow asked weakly after finishing her mouthful of food.

"Pretty uneventful" Faith replied, "Although there was something odd."

"What was odd?" Willow was curious now, especially because there was little of Faith's normal confidence in her tone.

"I kept feeling like we were being watched" Faith explained, "but there didn't seem to be anyone there."

"Did you mention it to Buffy?" Willow asked before being fed another spoonful of cake.

"Yeah but she didn't sense it" Faith admitted, "She thought I may just have been over alert and out of practise!"

"You don't agree though?" Willow could tell by Faith's tone that the brunette slayer did not feel out of practise.

"No" Faith agreed, "I think something was following us."

Faith finished of the last spoonful of cake and gave the bowl a quick swill in the sink before leaving it to dry. Willow watched Faith go about the simple task with a mixture of amusement and intrigue; she had never seen Faith do anything so domesticated before.

"Are you okay Will?" Faith finally asked, "Is something on your mind?"

"I've always got something on my mind" Willow replied honestly, "I just don't know how to turn my mind off so I can sleep!"

Faith seemed to stop and stare at Willow for a long moment before taking hold of her wrist with one of her hands. The slayer tugged slightly and began to move so Willow followed her, not bothering to resist at all. They left the kitchen and headed out onto the main corridor and towards the ground floor bed rooms. Willow wondered if Faith was actually walking her to her bedroom and was a little confused by what was going on. Once they reached the corridor with the four rooms on Willow realised that Faith had no idea which her room was so she took the lead and guided them to the first door on the right.

Faith opened the door and let Willow enter first, following her inside and closing the door quietly behind them. Willow still wasn't sure what was going on, especially when Faith sat on her bed and gestured for her to join her.

"Get into bed" Faith commanded, "then you can fall asleep in your own room after we've chatted rather than the sofa!"

Now it made sense, Faith was offering to sit up with her for a bit and try and chase some emotional demons away. Willow suddenly felt very guilty, Faith must be tired after patrolling and she didn't want the girl to feel obligated to listen to her moaning because Willow had got her released.

"It's not tit for tat Faith" Willow tried to alleviate her guilt, "I don't want you to feel like you have to talk with me."

"I know" Faith responded evenly, "I want to though...you should feel privileged...I think!"

Willow smiled at Faith warmly; if Faith wanted to be friends then Willow wasn't going to complain. She tossed her dressing gown over the foot of the bed and clambered in underneath the covers next to where Faith was sitting cross legged.

"What do you want to talk about?" Willow wondered, not knowing if Faith wanted her to take the lead or not.

"Magic" Faith replied, "I want you to tell me about the magic addiction and what you would need to do to make yourself stronger against it."

It was a much deeper topic than Willow had expected but she was glad that someone was actually willing to listen to her about her problem with magic. Everyone else just skirted around it or avoided it, almost pretending it didn't happen. It was hard to know where to start but Willow thought she'd go from the very beginning.

"Well you remember how week and helpless I was back in graduation year" they had sort of mentioned it in the gym earlier, "well I cast the spell that gave Angel his soul back and I felt this crazy wave of power and suddenly I didn't seem so completely helpless!"

"It must have been a real thrill ride" Faith agreed, obviously deciding she was there for a long haul because she lay down on the bed next to Willow but on top of the covers.

"Hell yeah" Willow agreed, "It wasn't a good grounding in magic though; I should have been starting with simple spells to build myself up mentally."

Willow turned onto her side so she was facing Faith who was lying on her back staring at the ceiling. The slayer seemed to be taking in what Willow was saying and processing it.

"Then I met Tara" Willow continued, "and she said I was really powerful and we practised together."

"Your power grew and grew" Faith spoke up, "you and Tara stopped me when I body switched with Buffy?"

"Yes" Willow agreed, "but it wasn't until Glory, this crazy demigoddess who wanted to end the world, that things got bad. You see she hurt Tara and made her go mad, so I learnt some dark magic spells and went after her. I didn't win but I was the only one who had made a fight of it up until that point."

"But you'd put the dark magic in your system" Faith deduced, "that's what I didn't understand, how you'd lost your purity."

Willow was impressed by how quickly Faith was latching on to what had happened, although the brunette slayer had always played dumb Willow could see there was a very good analytical mind she kept hidden away from them.

"Exactly" Willow agreed, "so to cut a long tale short we destroyed Glory and I got Tara's sanity back but at a terrible cost...Buffy died."

"Then you used magic to bring her back" Faith jumped in again, "Gun told me."

"I did" Willow continued, "but I was slipping deeper and deeper into magic, using it for everyday things, abusing it."

"So then Tara died and things went nuts?" Faith deduced again.

"Nearly" Willow explained, "Tara left me because I was abusing magic and told me to quit it or she'd be gone forever."

"Wow!" Faith exclaimed "I wouldn't expect her to be such a hard liner!"

"I wiped her memory after an argument" Willow cut in, "that was the final straw."

She felt really ashamed having to tell Faith what she'd done, at the time she had been so stupid that she hadn't realised how much of a violation of Tara's mind it actually was. Now Tara was gone it hurt all the more because if Willow had never messed up so much with the magic then things could have turned out so very differently.

"We had only just got back together when she was shot" Willow was sobbing, "The night before...and that's why we were in the bedroom of the middle of the day...because we kept on having bloody make up sex."

She couldn't believe she was crying in front of Faith, never mind the fact she was telling her about how her abuse of magic had inadvertently led to Tara's death. She was even telling her about their bloody sex life.

"Willow look at me" a strong hand was on Willow's chin, raising it up to face the slayer. Faith had turned onto her side to face Willow and was leaning her weight on her elbow.

"Willow listen" she continued, "you can't blame yourself, it was the lad with the gun and the timing was just unfortunate. If you and Tara hadn't been in the bedroom then you may have been with Buffy and Tara could have been shot anyway."

Willow had never thought of it like that before, it didn't make her feel any less upset but it did alleviate the guilt a little. Once she had got her sobbing under control Faith's hand left her chin and dropped down to the slayers side again.

* * *

Faith felt like her head was about to explode, it was late at night to be concentrating so hard and she was feeling very drained. Physically drained from the slaying and emotionally drained from watching and listening to Willow recounting her fall from grace.

Faith had this strange overwhelming urge to protect Willow and it was a very new and very confusing notion to her. She presumed it must stem from Willow's large roll in her release. Whatever it was she found that she couldn't ignore it and that's why she now found herself in Willow's room and on her bed.

"What type of spells can you do to help you control the magic?" It was a slight shift in the topic but Faith had started to feel out of her depth. She seemed to be fairly adept at listening to Willow's problems but dealing with tears was not one of Faith's strong points.

"At the coven in England they used simple shield spells" Willow brightened slightly, "you need to do spells that require sustained concentration."

"England?" Faith was confused, "When did you go to England?"

"Giles took me to the coven in England after the whole evil Willowyness thing" the red headed witch explained.

"Rehab" Faith giggled, "if Giles took you there then why doesn't he let you use their methods?"

Willow took a deep sigh and cuddled under the covers a bit more. Faith waited for Willow to reply and watched the girl's facial expressions intently. The two were still lying on their sides facing each other which gave Faith a perfect view of the sad look that crossed Willow's face.

"I think he's scared he couldn't control me if I was struggling" Willow admitted, "So it's easier to just ban me."

"I think they would be better supporting you rather than fearing you" Faith could see echoes of her own plight in Willow's, the group seemed to have learnt very little in the last few years. Even though she was irate Faith's voice was soft quiet because she was beginning to struggle to stay awake and she let out a large yaw.

"They don't trust me" Willow reminded her, "so they fear me."

"I trust you" mumbled Faith sleepily. In fact if she hadn't been so tired she would have probably never said something so open to Willow, she would have skirted around the subject because she was Faith and she wasn't meant to trust anybody.

"Thank you" Willow's soft reply carried a large hint of pleasure at Faith's declaration of trust, which made the slayer slightly less weary of having been so open. She wanted Willow and the others to trust her after all and it had given her pleasure when Dawn, Buffy and Giles had shown some faith in her. Her eyelids were feeling exceptionally heavy now and she closed them to try and rest her eyes a bit.

"You and me red" Faith said cheerfully but sleepily, "are gonna show everyone we ain't so bad or crazy after all!"

"Redemption buddies" Willow giggled and gave Faith a playful poke in the shoulder. Faith managed to crank one eye open and smile at the red head but her eyelid slammed shut again within seconds. She knew if she wanted to go back to her own room then she had to leave now but her body just wasn't responding. She fought of sleep briefly but it was a losing battle and gradually everything went blank.

It was light again when she opened her eyes next. She wasn't sure where she was at first, but then she recognised the room from the night before. It had a cream coloured roof with light blue walls and fairy lights around a mirror which sat over a dressing table. She also noted a couple of photo's that were pinned to the wall by the mirror; she had not noticed them the night before. One was of Willow and Tara at the bronze and the other was of Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya at the beach. It was sad to see Willow and Xander so happy with their respective partners, knowing they were both now gone forever.

She felt the blanket underneath her move as Willow's weight shifted slightly next to her in the bed. It was then that Faith realised that one of Willow's arms was draped across her stomach with the palm of her hand against Faith's abdominal muscles. It kind of freaked her for a few seconds because she really wasn't one for physical contact but then she remembered the last two night's conversations and relaxed. Willow was depressed and lonely; it wasn't a surprise she was reaching out for human comfort. It seemed that having someone their actually helped Willow rest too because the red head was now sleeping very soundly. She actually looked quite peaceful, more peaceful than she'd looked the night before and much more rested in appearance. Willow's clock showed it was only just gone seven in the morning but Faith suspected that Willow had not had six hours of straight sleep in months.

Willow rolled away from Faith so she was on her back and stretched, obviously waking up from her slumber. Faith wasn't sure what to say or do, she had never woke up with anyone before, never had a sleepover or anything like it.

"Erm...morning" Faith stuttered, "I must have fell asleep here!"

Willow's eyes opened and she turned to face Faith, flashing a silly smile at the brunette slayer. Faith new she was stating the obvious but at least she was making conversation.

"Yes you did" Willow agreed, "It was actually kind of cute...for you."

"Do I snore?" Faith had to ask, "I've never slept in the same room as anyone before!"

"No" Willow laughed, "you were totally silent...you could have been dead you were that still!"

Actually Willow was right; Faith had hardly moved from where she had been lying before falling asleep, she'd merely rolled onto her back at some point. She was surprised she hadn't repelled Willow out the bed in her sleep because she really wasn't a people person. Then she suddenly remembered the other people who resided in the hotel who really weren't going to appreciate Faith and Willow's sleepover.

"I better sneak out of here before everyone gets up" Faith spoke up, "or it will be warfare!"

"Mmmm god yeah" Willow grumbled, "Xander will presume we are sleeping together and go AWOL!"

"I think everyone would probably go AWOL" Faith admitted, "not just Xander."

"You're probably right" agreed Willow, sitting up in the bed and stretching again. Faith sat up too and rubbed her eyes, willing herself to get moving.

"I've got to do the finances for the watcher's council this morning" Willow stated, "what are you going to get up too?"

"I think I may actually remove the stuff from the shopping bags and organise my room!" Faith knew she'd have to make the effort at some point so it may as well be now.

"Then" Faith continued, "do you want to come help me do some training in the gym this afternoon?"

"Only if by help you don't mean get beaten up" Willow quipped, "my face could do without being rearranged!"

"I wouldn't lay a finger on your pretty little face" Faith laughed, "but I need someone to throw things at me!"

"That sounds like fun" Willow laughed, "I'll be there!"

Faith didn't know how good Willow would actually be at throwing weapons at her but she had an ulterior purpose for dragging Willow down there with her. She wanted to get Willow practising those shield spells she had spoke of in the privacy of the gym, so the others didn't find out and go spare on her.

Faith climbed off the bed and onto to her feet, she was going to have to be quiet if she didn't want to alert anyone like Buffy to her presence on that floor.

"See you later" Willow said quietly as she reached the door and Faith turned back to see Willow settling back down into bed again.

She gave Willow a wave goodbye before creeping out the door and up the corridor. There were sounds of movement upstairs so obviously someone was up and getting ready for work but no one was around to see Faith sneak back downstairs to her own room. Once she was back in her own room she set the alarm on the clock for ten o'clock and crawled into bed, determined to get another couple of hours sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Faith had woken up before her alarm went off at about ten because she could hear the sounds of movement next door in the gym. She dragged herself up and got dressed, quickly arranging her clothing into the wardrobe and chest of drawers. It all looked a bit like that minimalist modern art you see, the dot of paint in the middle of a large canvas, as she had nowhere near enough clothing to even half fill them. She'd have to get herself a part time job like the others and start building her processions up at some point soon.

In fact her whole room looked sparse compared to Willow's bedroom on the floor above. The only thing on the walls was paint and a single mirror, no posters, paintings or pictures. The dressing table had a brush and a scattering of makeup and moisturiser on it but the top of the chest of drawers was empty, nothing remotely decorative in sight. The only thing on or in the nightstand was a plain lamp and a couple of wooden stakes. She definitely needed to do something about the decor if it was going to feel like her home, not some random hotel room.

Her reverie was broken by more thumping sounds from the gym and she decided to stick her head through the door and see what was going on. It was bound to be Buffy training and she wondered if the blonde slayer wanted any help or a sparring partner.

When she opened the door though she found that Giles was not in work this morning, he was putting Buffy through her paces in a training session. Giles was making Buffy deflect blows from a long and heavy staff he was wielding and Buffy was finding it pretty easy although he kept adding in a sneaky jab that made her work harder. Faith actually felt a bit nostalgic seeing this and she remembered well how intensive Giles was during slayer training. She had resented how pissy he was at the time but with hindsight she actually kind of missed those training sessions with him and Buffy.

"Faith" Giles greeted when he spotted her in the doorway. Both he and Buffy stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her.

"Hey" Faith greeted back "just thought I'd pop my head in and see what you were up to!"

"Giles is trying to hit me with a big stick!" Buffy joked "do you want to join in?"

"Another day" Faith smiled at the other "I've already organised Willow to give me a hand in here this afternoon."

"Great" Buffy said through a forced smile "I'm in work this afternoon unfortunately or I'd have had a laugh watching that!"

Faith could tell that Buffy was uncomfortable with the amount of time Willow was spending with her but her joke was genuine; Willow wasn't really the ideal gym trainer.

"It should be fun" Faith agreed "I may have to train her to throw weapons correctly first I think!"

Giles chuckled slightly and Buffy managed a smile but Faith felt like she was intruding on their party so she said goodbye and backed out of the doorway. She decided to go find some breakfast, no doubt Chloe the domestic goddess would help her, and then she would have to watch TV or something to keep her amused.

Chloe was still in the kitchen and was obviously cleaning up after breakfast, Faith felt a bit guilty about coming in so late in the morning and wanting food after the girl had cleaned up.

"Hey Faith" the lanky blonde greeted "I didn't know what you liked for breakfast but there are some cold blueberry pancakes in the fridge if you want them?"

"Yeah thanks" Faith was grateful "I'm easy to feed because I just like anything, especially if the portions are big!"

Chloe seemed very friendly and had a cheery smile; she came across as the kind of person who was happy to get on with everyone. Faith took out the blueberry pancakes from the fridge and binned the cling film that was covering them. She took a bite and was really impressed because even though they were cold they were totally delicious.

"These are great thanks" Faith stated through a mouthful of pancake as Chloe got back to cleaning the surfaces in the kitchen. Chloe also seemed like she had OCD or something because the place was shining and she was still cleaning away.

Faith made her way out of the kitchen with her plate of pancakes and headed towards the lounge and the large flat screen TV that was housed there. She was slightly surprised to find Willow sitting at the table in there, sitting with her laptop and scribbling in a small notepad.

"Hey" Faith greeted as she peered over Willow's shoulder, the red head hadn't realised she was there previously and her head shot up in shock.

"Faith you git you've distracted me from my count!"

Even though Willow was telling her of Faith could tell that she wasn't really angry with her and instead looked amused that Faith had made her jump.

"Sorry" Faith apologised "would a blueberry pancake make it better? Brain food?"

"God no" Willow pulled a Face "I can't eat them, they remind me of Tara too much."

Faith wasn't sure why blueberry pancakes in particular reminded Willow of her dead girlfriend but she instantly felt guilty for waving them in front of her face. She pulled the plate away so it was behind Willow and completely out of view.

"She used to cook them for us in the morning" Willow explained "I just relate breakfast pancakes to her."

"Sorry red, I won't wave them in front of you again!"

Willow reached round and squeezed Faith's hand in response which felt kind of strange to the brunette slayer as she really wasn't getting used to this friendly physical contact thing. She didn't drag her hand away but she couldn't resist giving her had a sneaky once over with her eyes once Willow had released her.

"What...what are you doing?" Faith couldn't believe how much a bit of human contact could throw her speech and thought process of so much.

"Last month's accounts for this hotel" Willow explained "for the council records."

"Sounds riveting" Faith couldn't help being sarcastic about it because accounting sounded like her idea of hell.

"It's really boring" Willow admitted "but I'm paid to do it so I can't complain."

"I will leave you to it then because I'm going to be a total bum and watch TV until lunch!"

Willow giggled as Faith bounced off towards the sofa, the brunette slayer suddenly felt quite cheerful at the idea of watching cartoons for an hour or so. She was glad to see that they had Cartoon Network and Boomerang on the TV and she settled down to watch the end of Scooby Doo. Once that had finished there where back to back episodes of The Wacky Races, which was one of Faith's favourites. It was obviously one of the red heads too because Willow seemed to finish up what she was doing and join her on the sofa to watch it.

Part way through Xander entered the hotel with bags of food shopping for Chloe, Faith hadn't realised he was off work that day and felt a little uncomfortable with him being around. Now she was going to have to face him at lunch time as well as at dinner and after last night that couldn't be a good thing.

As The Wacky Races was finishing Buffy and Giles reappeared from the basement for lunch and joined them on the other sofa for about ten minutes before Chloe called everyone in for lunch.

* * *

Buffy had a horrible feeling that it was far too soon for a group of them to be sat around the table together again. Perhaps if Dawn had been off rather than Xander it would be okay but he was really not happy with Faith's presence. They were sat awkwardly because Buffy was opposite Faith and next to Xander who was opposite Willow. If he kicked off from the far end of the table last night then he had no chance of remaining calm sat virtually opposite Faith. Giles was sat on the other side of Willow and he was opposite Chloe who had probably positioned herself by Xander on purpose, so she could try and keep him calm.

They actually tucked into their tomato soup in silence and it was all going well for a while in an awkward quiet kind of way. Then however the atmosphere changed when Giles tried to make conversation.

"I'm glad you are using the gym and training Faith" Giles began "would you like a training session with me tomorrow afternoon? Buffy is in work so and I could have Andrew mind the shop again."

Xander put his spoon down and gave Giles a sideways glare, clearly not happy with the idea of the watcher accepting Faith so readily. Faith looked a little uncomfortable and was obviously unsure of how to act around Xander. At least she was trying not to just get angry with him; Buffy had to commend her for that.

"That would be cool thanks" Faith agreed "all I can do on my own is work on fitness."

"I'm sure you're fit enough" Xander grumbled, picking his spoon up again and playing with his soup.

"Fit enough for what?" Willow suddenly spoke up and she looked a little exasperated with Xander and his combativeness with Faith.

"Oh I don't know" Xander bit "kill us maybe!"

"Xander!" Chloe berated "is there any need to be so hostile?"

"Why is it that everyone is so keen on sharing this hotel with a murderer?" Xander snapped.

"FUCK OFF XANDER" Willow's voice echoed around the room and everyone was shocked into silence, even Faith it seemed.

"SHUT UP YOU FUCKING IDIOT" she continued "THINK about what you are saying!"

Buffy watched in horror as Willow slammed her cutlery on the table and her eyes blackened so they where as dark as coal. Willow was on her feet quickly and Buffy launched to her feet as well, ready to take on Willow if she had completely lost control. Faith was on her feet too and grabbed Willows arm, pulling Willow to face her so the witch was no longer staring menacingly at Xander.

"Willow" Faith said softly at first "WILLOW!"

Buffy watched on in amazement as Willow's immediately reacted to Faith's raised voice and seemed to calm a little, her eyes going back to their normal green colour. In fact, Willow looked horrified by her actions and stood very still, looking nowhere but at Faith.

"It's okay" Faith said softly, releasing her grip on Willow's forearm but not moving her hand entirely.

There was total silence in the room as the scene unfolded, even from the previously very vocal Xander who seemed to realise he had pushed it too far. Buffy wasn't sure why Willow had reacted so vigorously so suddenly, she could only presume it had been building up silently as Xander's ranting had gone on. Whatever it was, Willow now looked mortified and she suddenly swung away from Faith and stormed off and out the dining room towards the bedrooms.

Faith looked shocked and hurt as Willow walked away but then her attention seemed to snap back to the others and Xander in particular. The kicked puppy look was replaced by a very irate and frustrated glare.

"What the hell?!" Xander seemed at a loss as to why Willow had just flipped on him but it was clear to Buffy that Faith knew why.

"One word you stupid insensitive dick" Faith spat at him "WARREN!"

With that Faith was gone, speeding of after Willow towards the ground floor bedrooms. Buffy watched her go and wondered if she should follow too but her limbs seemed unwilling to move.

"Oh...OH" Xander stuttered, clearly mortified by the fairly simple explanation Faith had offered him. He wasn't the only one at a loss for words; everyone around the table was silent and equally shocked. Buffy hadn't ever really considered Willow a murderer because she was so out of control when she took revenge on Warren. However, technically speaking Willow was a murderer and obviously it was having more of an effect on Willow than Buffy had previously realised.

"I didn't... I didn't think" Xander was still stuttering "ex...excuse me?"

Xander jumped to his feet and fled, obviously heading for the privacy of his own room. He needed time to think everything through and Buffy couldn't blame him. Once upon a time he and Willow had been so close, just like her and Willow, that couldn't seem any further away right now. In fact if Willow was close to anyone now it would seem to be Faith, ten minutes ago that seemed ridicules but now Buffy thought she understood it a bit better. Willow and Faith had something in common that none of the others could truly understand; they had both messed up and turned on the people who cared about them.

"That was another eventful meal" Giles broke the silence "do you think Xander will manage to sit the whole way through one anytime this week?"

"I think he probably wishes he'd kept his mouth shut" Chloe chastised Giles slightly "he looked mortified."

"He will be mortified" Buffy agreed, finally feeling like she could move and do something constructive. She had to go check on Xander, Faith was with Willow, and right now Xander needed a friend to talk too.

* * *

Willow was horrified with herself and she fled to her room and flung herself on the bed as quick as her legs could carry her. She had just lost it with Xander big time and she had felt like cursing him, she had felt all that black magic beginning to flow through her veins again. She was sure the only thing that had stopped her tipping over the edge was Faith's very quick and well timed intervention.

Willow had seen Xander go out in the morning and thought that he would probably stay out all day to avoid Faith, even though it was one of his days off. When he had reappeared with shopping before lunch she knew it was going to lead to another confrontation but felt helpless to stop it happening. Now she wished she had not eaten with the others, that she'd gone out, or stayed in the lounge or taken her lunch back to her room. Then she could have avoided this stupid disaster.

Now must what Faith think of her, the brunette slayer had said that she trusted her last night but now the girl would surely change her opinion. Willow had looked straight into Faith's eyes whilst her eyes must have been as black as night, Faith had never seen the evil Willow before, now how could she look at her any differently than anyone else did.

Willow did not hear the door open through her tears but then she felt a hand on her shoulder as the door thudded shut. She had no idea who it was and frankly didn't want to turn around and find out, or see the disappointment and hurt in their eyes. The hand didn't pull away but it remained still and almost stiff, if she couldn't feel the heat resonating from its palm then she'd have sworn it was a corpse.

"Are you okay red?"

It was Faith who had followed her and the brunette slayer did not sound angry or reproachful, she just sounded concerned.

"I can't believe how thick some of them can be sometimes" Faith continued "but he didn't mean to hurt you red."

Willow knew that, she just couldn't hold her temper when he faulted Faith for something she was just as guilty at. She wanted him to stop being such an ass and to start trying to be more mature and more understanding. In fact, she just wanted all the mistakes and all the pain to go away so that she and Xander and Buffy could be proper friends again.

"I know" she finally agreed, although the response was muffled by the tears and the pillow she had her head buried in. She felt Faith shift onto the bed next to her and Faith's hand was joined by her head, which she pressed against Willow's upper back. It was a kind of gentle hug and Willow couldn't believe Faith was being so brave because she knew the girl was uncomfortable with contact.

"It's going to be okay" Faith spoke up again "we are going to work through this and get it under control."

"Do you think it's worth it?" Willow felt tears running freely again "do you think it's worth spending time trying to help me now you've seen what happens?"

Willow felt totally worthless right now, it hurt to admit it to Faith but she had no one else to tell. Faith sighed in response to Willow's self loathing and Willow could feel herself being turned on the bed so she was now looking up at Faith who was leaning over her.

"Do you think it was worth spending all that time getting me released after seeing what I'm capable of? I held a knife to your neck Willow, I contemplated killing you...do you remember?"

"I remember" Willow chocked, not sure where Faith was going with this but totally caught up in the slayers eyes so she could not look away.

"Was it worth bringing me here?" Faith pressed her question again, her voice was laced with danger but Willow didn't feel threatened by her.

"Yes" Willow finally replied "it was...and will be worth it."

Faith still held her eyes with an intense glare but the slayers lips betrayed a slight victorious smile. Faith had made her point, if she thought Faith was worth the effort then she had to accept that Faith thought she was worth the effort too.

"Good" Faith's voice lost its previous edge "you promised me your help this afternoon, meet me in the gym in half an hour."

With that Faith was of the bed and out the door, leaving Willow to contemplate what had been said between her and Xander and of course, between her and Faith.

She spent the half an hour before meeting Faith in her room, giving a little thought about how her once strong friendships were decaying. That had been replaced after about twenty minutes by thoughts of how Faith had changed since they had first met her. It wasn't just the fact she had sorted her priorities out and turned her life around; she was calmer and more personable in general. It wasn't just with Willow either, she had stayed calm with Xander and was making a real effort with Buffy and the others. Willow and she seemed to have connected though, mainly over their need for redemption but they also had other things that made them compatible friends. They both didn't mind long periods of silence, enjoyed talking about trivial things and they clearly both shared a love of cartoons. It was those small things that actually made Willow feel closer to Faith, the redemption thing had almost become incidental to her.

Once half an hour passed Willow made her way fairly stealthily to the basement, not really wanting to meet anyone on route. Chloe had been cleaning in the corridor but had left Willow too it, the blonde was good at that, not getting involved in anything she shouldn't.

Willow reached the gym and found Faith already in there doing some warm up stretches. She was wearing grey jogging bottoms and a white sports vest top they had bought the day before. Willow was quite relived she wasn't as undressed as she had been yesterday even though the view had been pretty good. Not that Faith looked bad in what she was now wearing; she was just showing less skin and less breast!

"Feeling better?" Faith enquired, not bothering to stop her routine of stretches.

"I've calmed" Willow assured her "but throwing things at you may be good anger management!"

"That comes later" Faith smirked "first I want to do some Willow training."

"You'll never teach me to throw a good punch" Willow warned her "Buffy has been trying for years!"

Faith stopped her stretching and began to circle Willow slowly, taking a good look at her. Willow had no idea what the slayer was doing but she wished she'd worn a better fitting vest top so Faith had more of a view.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a few shield spells" Faith finally stopped pacing "but I can teach you to punch if you want!"

That's what Faith had on her mind; she wanted to start helping Willow mentally train so that Willow could combat the black magic.

"First talk me through shield spells" Faith commanded "there must be some sort of sliding scale to them?"

Faith was very astute; there were many different types of shield spell and different degrees of complication in each type.

"There are three main types" Willow began "the first is wall shield spells, these can be very simple or you can make them complicated by including others in your protective field, you can even be selective."

"Can you shift the barriers of the shield to accommodate people who are moving?" Faith was obviously very interested by the idea of being able to protect multiple people.

"Yes but it would take a great deal of concentration" Willow admitted "your sliding scale."

"What are the other two types?" Faith was pacing again but this time she stayed in front of Willow.

"Reflective shield spells and emotional shields" Willow continued "reflective spells actually repel the bad guy away from you and emotional shields are a kind of meditation to help fight of unwanted emotion."

"That sounds useful" Faith was obviously referring to the emotional shield.

"It is but it's incredibly hard to do" Willow shuddered "I've only ever been able to do them with Tara there anchoring me."

"Anchoring?" Faith's questions were quick fired.

"Someone who makes sure you don't lose yourself in another plane by keeping physical contact with you" It was sad to think about this, Tara had been her anchor in spells time and time again. That would never happen again, it was another thing she missed about her Tara and she doubted anyone would ever be able to replace Tara as her anchor.

"Right" Faith moved on "so you should be doing simple wall spells at first I'm presuming?"

"Yeah" Willow was fascinated by Faith's ability to process information like this so quickly, she really was quite bright.

"Let's do a couple then" Faith encouraged "start by holding it for ten seconds and I'll test it."

"Give me a metre or two's space then" Willow requested, not wanting to accidently send Faith flying.

Faith did as commanded and gave her plenty of room to perform her spell. Willow closed her eyes and focused, the spell was a simple one for her but she had to concentrate or she'd risk losing control of the magic. She took two deep breaths and raised her right hand, palm spread, facing towards Faith. She willed the wall shield to form around her and within seconds she could feel the power oozing out of her palm as the shield formed.

She opened her eyes and looked at Faith, giving a slight nod so the slayer understood that the shield had been formed. Faith began to approach slowly with her palm raised towards Willow's. When Faith was about 6 inches away from Willow's palm she suddenly came to a stop and there was a ripple in the air between them, like water running down a clear piece of plastic.

"That is cool!" Faith grinned, running her hand against the shield and causing it to ripple further.

Willow tried to ignore Faith's presence and focus on keeping the shield and the power going into it steady. It felt a little too good using magic like this but not uncontrollable and once she'd held the shield firm for ten seconds she lowered her hand and dropped the shield.

"Willow? You five by five?" Faith asked, giving a Willow a slightly concerned look.

"Yeah, why? Do I look like I'm not?" Willow felt a little bit of panic rising inside her, she was sure she'd been in total control.

"Your eyes were still green, don't panic!" Faith laughed "you just looked a little pained!"

"I was concentrating!" Willow exclaimed in response "that's the whole point of me doing this isn't it?!"

Faith raised her hands in defeat and stepped away from Willow again, gesturing with her hand for Willow to carry on. Willow focused again and followed the same process as before, closing her eyes and taking two deep breaths before raising her hand and willing the shield to form again. This time when she opened her eyes Faith was already prodding the shield and was in fact using her hands to drum on it. Willow raised a quizzical eye at Faith but didn't say anything as she was afraid of breaking her concentration again.

"Sorry" Faith stopped the drumming "I just find it fascinating."

Willow couldn't resist having a little play and concentrated on moving the shield away from her a little and encompass Faith too. The slayer jumped as she felt the shield pass through her but seemed to know on instinct where the shield now stopped, turning to face the shield rather than Willow and giving it a prod.

"Well this is cosy" the slayer commented, turning her head and winking at Willow. Willow couldn't help but giggle and immediately dropped the shield before she risked losing concentration.

"You're very distracting!" she couldn't help but point out to the slayer.

"It's good for your concentration!" Faith turned to face Willow completely and smirked.

"I guess that's enough for one day" Faith continued "now it's time for Faith training!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Faith's day had been a very up and down one. Lunch had been an unprecedented disaster because of Xander shooting his mouth off and really upsetting Willow. The afternoon had been fun because she had managed to cheer Willow up and had actually had a surprisingly constructive training session.

Willow had obviously seen enough of Buffy's training sessions to know what to do and was actually quite good at shouting instructions out whilst Faith was using the punch bag. She knew the basic moved like jab's, hooks, undercuts, knee's and kicks and was pretty quick at reeling them off. Basically Faith had made her shout commands like left jab to the body and right kick to the head and Faith had worked on following her instructions quickly. Willow had even thrown a few random ones in like right slap to the face which had made Faith laugh and lose focus.

Willow had then thrown some wooden training weapons at her but she wasn't quite as proficient at this and her aim was sometimes really off. Although this wasn't great for training it was definitely good for Willow's morale because they had a good laugh about it.

Even though the two had enjoyed the afternoon Willow had not ate with everyone else at dinner and had instead took her food directly from the kitchen and went to her room. Xander didn't emerge for dinner either and Buffy had taken his food up to him after she had returned from work at the local school. Dinner at the table would have been awkward and silent if it wasn't for the ever vibrant Dawn who was very dramatically re-accounting her day at college.

As bright and breezy as Dawn was, Faith had been relieved to escape the hotel and go on patrol. Especially as her and Buffy had split up to cover more ground and Faith was now patrolling the graveyard in peace and quiet. She had been there for almost an hour and a half and was yet to see a vampire or anything remotely evil to slay. This seemed incredibly odd because Willow had told her that the area was quite active, this was not active, and it was boring as hell.

Her luck seemed to change briefly when she rounded a tomb to find a vampire creeping out; he'd obviously been staying in there. It was a fairly brief bit of excitement though because the scruffy vampire hadn't been prepared for a fight and was dust within ten seconds. She had checked in the tomb for more but there was no fun to be had in there. As she was exiting the tomb she had that strange feeling of being followed again. She swung around to the left in the direction she sensed the presence was coming from and caught a brief glimpse of movement between two large tomb stones.

She was quick to move in that direction and sprinted to the tombstones, stopping and desperately looking round for whatever it was. There was more movement again, this time to the right heading towards the trees at the outside of the graveyard boundary. Faith managed to catch a brief glimpse of the creature she was following before it disappeared out of sight again. This time she didn't follow it because she was too tall to fit through the gap it had gone through and she didn't fancy trying to get over the tall spiked fence at speed to keep up with it.

The creature was short and stocky, perhaps about 5 feet tall and had a strange blue hue to its rough looking skin. It had been completely stark naked and looked like it could be one of those sexless things, she couldn't remember the correct term for it. She hadn't got a proper look at its face but she thought she may have seen large eyes in the brief second she saw it.

Not really knowing what to do now she found herself a comfy tombstone to sit on and waited for Buffy to arrive from her part of the patrol. Looking for trouble was getting her nowhere, if she was being followed it made more sense to sit and see if trouble was going to come to her.

After about half an hour of nothing Buffy appeared, looking a little more flustered than she was used to seeing the blonde behave.

* * *

"Faith?"

Buffy was glad to have finally found the brunette slayer although she was confused as to why Faith was sat very still on a tombstone with her eyes closed.

"I've had a weird one" she explained "I think you were right last night, I felt like I was being followed and then I heard something move in one of the alleyways but then there was nothing there."

"We are definitely being followed" Faith finally spoke "I saw a creature and chased it but it got away, it was a speedy little thing!"

It must be speedy to get away from a slayer, Buffy wondered how many creatures there were if both of them were being followed.

"It was a little blue thing" Faith continued "a beady eyed naked little blue monster!"

"That doesn't sound very threatening" Buffy stated "mini blue Olympic sprinters can't be too bad right?"

"Look around B" Faith suddenly stood up "I've seen one vampire tonight...the place is deserted."

Buffy looked around the area of still graveyard she could actually see, Faith was right, not a creature was staring not even a mouse.

"I found two around the clubs but they were pretty pathetic" Buffy admitted, she had been so distracted by the feeling of being followed that she hadn't really noticed the lack of vampires.

"Something has them running suddenly and I doubt it's me!" Faith looked very thoughtful.

Buffy would be pretty offended if all vampire life in the hellmouth was running away from Faith and not her. Realistically though something was making the vampires stay underground and she doubted it was just a few little monsters.

"We better go back to the hotel" Buffy decided "we'll speak to Giles about it in the morning and he can do some research."

"Agreed" Faith muttered "I'd like to have some idea what apocalypse we're about to deal with!"

"Wow...positive thinking Faith!" Buffy laughed at the brunette's slayers pessimism, obviously Faith hadn't forgot what it was like to live on the hellmouth.

* * *

Faith followed Buffy back to the hotel in silence, chewing over the events of patrol again and again. She couldn't remember any more details about the creature, no matter how hard she racked her memory and she had a huge feeling of unease about the whole thing. Buffy had headed for the kitchen but Faith didn't feel hungry for once and headed straight for her room.

She tossed her denim jacket on the bed and paced the room; she couldn't settle at all and felt really restless. Glancing round the room she realised she hadn't actually spent the night in here yet, in fact she hadn't spent the night alone since she'd been released from prison. She had been with Willow both nights because the girl couldn't sleep, was Willow okay tonight? Was she okay because suddenly she really wanted to go to Willow's room and tell her all about patrol and the strange creature.

The idea of needing to be near anyone was frightening, she'd never needed anyone in her life and it was crazy to start now. Willow was probably asleep and Faith needed to calm down and do the same and not be such a muppet.

She hauled her vest top of and was about to throw it in the laundry basket when there was a gentle tap on the door. She held the vest in front of her chest to cover herself slightly and opened the door, not sure who to expect on the other side.

"Oh good it's you" Faith declared when she found Willow stood in the doorway in her pyjama's. She stopped worrying about hiding her bra and stepped back into the room and chucked the vest top in the laundry. Willow followed her into the room and quirked her eyebrow at her.

"I'd have bought popcorn if I knew it was a strip show!" the red head commented as she shut the door behind herself.

Faith swung back round to Willow and smirked, she couldn't resist doing a little sexy dance in jest for a few seconds which seemed to totally crack Willow up.

"Very cute Faith!" she said through the laughter "and Buffy thought you were a little quiet...I expected to find a very serious slayer!"

The red head settled herself on the bed and sat there cross legged waiting for Faith to respond. The brunette slayer realised that she her mood had totally changed since she opened the door to Willow but decided to ignore it for now and consider it later.

"You've seen Buffy?" that was definitely a safer route for Faith to be heading down then her sudden excitement to see the red headed witch.

"In the hallway" Willow explained "I was heading for a drink...she said you were both being followed...are you ok? She said you saw a strange creature?"

"Fine" _or at least she was now_ "It wasn't exactly intimidating, I'm more worried by the lack of vampire activity."

"You think there is something bad scaring them away?" Willow surmised.

Faith nodded in reply, she was still stood by the laundry basket in only her jeans and her bra. She noticed Willow's eyes keep briefly flickering down her body slightly but it was obvious the other girl was trying not to. She didn't mind, if Willow enjoyed the view then fair enough. It wasn't like she was shy or anything although she would have probably been pretty annoyed if it was Xander or someone doing the ogling. She couldn't stand like that forever though so she decided on a course of action.

"I'm just going to get a shower, I won't be long" she told Willow "make yourself at home."

She stepped closer to the bed to take her night clothes from the pillow next to Willow but then froze as she leant over to pick them up. Willows eyes had focused in on the only thing that Faith was slightly shy about. As a slayer she had a great ability to heal but she still had a slight scar were Buffy had stabbed her on the rooftop all those years ago. It was hardly noticeable unless you got a close up view of it like Willow had just had and clearly the girl had seen it.

Faith turned away and made a dash towards the bathroom but Willow's hand was around her wrist remarkably quickly. The girl had somehow scrambled to her feet and had pulled back on Faith to stop her. If Faith really wanted to she could have easily pulled away but she stopped instead, frozen to the spot.

"Faith" Willow's voice was so soft "turn around."

She turned slowly to face Willow, taking a deep breath to steady her on route. Willow's eyes instantly moved down to the scar again but this time the hand that wasn't on Faith's wrist followed and she pressed her fingertips against the scar tissue. Faith's breathing became shallower at the contact and she watched as Willow trailed her fingertips round the edge of the scar. This was one of those scary physical contact things that Faith really didn't know how to deal with. Willows fingertips were hot against the bare flesh and the sensation felt uncomfortably pleasant.

"That's another one of those painful reminders of all the things I could have handled differently in my life" Willow stated as she finally removed her hand from Faith's stomach.

"I had choices Willow...I just kept making the wrong ones" Faith pointed out, not wanting Willow to wallow in guilt on her behalf.

"Go get your shower" Willow commanded softly, releasing Faith's wrist from her grasp.

Faith stumbled away from the red head and was briefly disorientated until her mind un-fogged. Willow seemed to have the ability to do that to her, to put her head in a spin. She quickly headed into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, she was going to need a cold shower or something to get her focused again.

* * *

Willow had felt a little bit of smugness for Faith when Buffy re-accounted the night to her in the hallway by the kitchen. Faith had been right the previous night; something had been creeping around in the shadows following the two slayers after all. She had actually expected Faith to have been smug too but Buffy gave her the impression that Faith seemed a little weirded out by the experience.

She had thought about going back to bed after her glass of water but had then decided to check on Faith in case Buffy was right. Faith had been supportive of her the last couple of days so it only seemed fair that she returned the favour right? She had wanted to thank Faith anyway for cheering her up so much this afternoon so now was as good a time as any.

She had tapped on the slayers door quite confidently but then it hit her that she seemed to be getting a little dependant on seeing Faith, perhaps the brunette would want some privacy for once from her. She didn't have much time to consider it before the door swung open to reveal Faith, vest top in hand half covering her upper body.

"Thank god it's you!"

Willow wondered who else it could have been, was Faith worried it was Buffy or Buffy and Giles? Obviously she was less concerned about being topless in front of Willow because Faith tossed the top in the laundry and stood there in her bra.

"I'd have bought popcorn if I knew it was a strip show!"

Willow was surprised at herself for saying it as it was far more flirtatious than she was usually capable of. Not that Faith seemed to mind because she proceeded to do a little club dance for Willow's benefit and Willow found herself laughing uncontrollably at Faith's antics. So much for Buffy's theory that the girl was weirded out.

Once she'd started a conversation with Faith though she realised that the brunette slayer was concerned about the situation. Buffy had already informed Willow about the lack of vampire activity and she was astute enough to know that it was not a good sign.

Even though the nature of the conversation was now more serious Willow couldn't help but be distracted slightly by Faith's lack of top. She tried really hard to focus on Faith's face but she couldn't help her eyes wandering down occasionally over Faith's bra clad chest and tight stomach muscles. She may have only been wearing a boring plain black t-shirt bra but it was still showing a fair bit of cleavage.

Her attention was brought back to Faith's face when the slayer declared she was getting a shower but the brunette seemed quite happy for Willow to stay sat on her bed whilst she did so. It was then that Willow noticed the old knife scar on Faith's stomach, as the girl gathered her shorts and top of the bed. It was faint but it was still noticeable and it actually made Willow feel a little sick seeing it. That was as much evidence of their neglect as it was of Faith's past mistakes and Willow could feel guilt flooding over her.

Faith seemed to panic at Willow's intense stare and tried to move away but Willow steadied her and turned her around. They were now both on their feet by the side of the bed and Willow had a better view of the old mark. Although it was faint it was quite large and Willow found her free hand moving to the scar without even thinking about it. She traced the edge of the mark with her fingertips and was surprised to find how soft skin Faith's skin was to the touch. It was then that she realised she was overstepping some sort of boundary so she let go of Faith and tried to offer up a satisfactory explanation for her actions.

Faith had seemed to accept Willow's reasons but the slayer looked a little confused by Willow's actions and had practically fell into the bathroom. Willow was a little confused by her actions too, guilt should not cause you to start running your hand all over somebody's stomach. She also seemed to be checking Faith out quite a lot too which was not normal Willow behaviour. Faith was really pretty, Willow had always known Faith was pretty but now she was noticing it a lot more. It wasn't a big deal if Willow was physically attracted to Faith was it? Faith didn't seem to care about being admired after all.

What was more worrying was the fact that Willow wanted to be around her. That suggested more than just a physical attraction and that was a little terrifying. She didn't want another relationship ever, she didn't want to forget about Tara and she was scared of losing somebody again. Not that a relationship with Faith was a possibility, there was no way the slayer would want it and it was just a preposterous idea. In fact, she had no idea why she was thinking it...she really needed to think about something else.

She had tried to fill her mind with serious thoughts about little blue monsters but it wasn't really working, she couldn't focus. She was relieved when the bathroom door opened and Faith emerged dressed for bed. The slayer had only had a body shower as her hair was still dry and she really could do with buying night clothes that covered more of her for Willow's sake.

"I got kind of weird on you then" Faith sat on the bed next to her "I've never shown the scar to anyone before...I'm not proud of it."

Willow mused at the idea of Faith acting weird; she thought it was her who was doing the strangeness with the whole touchy feely Faith thing.

"We all have scars Faith" it was true, Willow's scars were emotional and therefore less visible but it didn't mean they didn't exist.

"Very true" agreed Faith, rolling onto her back and pulling the covers over her. Willow wasn't sure what to do, she wanted to get into the bed too but she wasn't sure if Faith would be comfortable with that.

"Do you want me to go?" she tried not to sound too dejected as she asked.

"Do you want to go?" Faith seemed confused again "You can stay."

"I just don't want you to feel like there is no escaping me" Willow admitted, avoiding making any eye contact with Faith at all. Faith started tugging the covers from under her so Willow wriggled so Faith could get them free. Once they were loose the slayer pushed them over Willow so she was now in the bed, she now had her answer, and she was staying.

"I was about to go see if you were awake anyway" Faith admitted "we just keep on changing the venues!"

Willow could feel her smile growing uncontrollably but she tried to fight down any silly notions about why Faith could be happy to have her stay there.

"I wanted to say thank you for this afternoon" Willow spoke up "for making me feel better and for helping me with the magic"

"My pleasure" Faith mumbled "you're a crap throw though red"

Willow giggled and gave Faith's side a nudge with her elbow. She was surprised when the slayer kicked her back playfully in the ankle.

"Careful or I may just turn you into a frog after all!" Willow quipped, too tired to start a full blown poking war with her.

"Only handsome princes get turned into frogs!" a sleepy sounding Faith reminded her.

"Very true" Willow agreed "you're much too pretty to transform into anything...I'd just stick you in a cage!"

"Kinky Willow!" Faith was still sleepy "will there be whips and chains?"

"That wouldn't be much of a punishment" Willow pointed out, shocked again by her own flirtatiousness.

"It depends who you sent in the cage to whip me!" Faith mumbled, clearly nearly asleep.

Willow wondered who Faith would consider the most punishment; would it be one of the lads? Probably Xander considering how much he seemed to dislike her still.

"Indeed...I'm sure Xander would really enjoy it" Willow smirked "sweet dreams!"

"Thanks for that imagery red! Goodnight!" Willow had to suppress a giggle as Faith's eyes flew open and gave her a little glare. If Faith was still giving her evils in the morning she'd know exactly what she had been having nightmares about.


	11. Chapter 11

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Faith woke up to the sound of banging on her door and she fumbled for the lamp next to her bed to light the room up a little.

"Come in" It was an automatic reaction to someone knocking but she instantly regretted it. In her half asleep state she'd forgot she was not alone in the bed, whoever walked in was about to get the wrong idea and presume that she and Willow were screwing.

"Hey Faith, Giles wants everyone to meet upstairs in half an hour" the door swung open and Buffy stepped in a pace or two. She didn't seem to notice Willow at first because Faith was door side in the bed and was sat up, blocking her view slightly.

"He wants everyone to get into research mode" Buffy continued "He wants to talk before Xander leaves for work and Dawn isn't in college till lunch time so she's going to help...can't find Willow yet though..."

Buffy's voice trailed off as she took another step towards the bed and her eyes opened wide in shock. Faith glanced sideways at Willow who was wide awake and cringing, obviously very aware of what was happening.

"Now I seem to have found her though!" Buffy's voice was very quiet.

Faith had absolutely no idea how to handle this situation and was kind of relieved when Willow sat up in the bed next to her and took charge.

"Hey" she forced a smile "did you say half an hour? I was still half asleep."

"What the hell!" Buffy exclaimed without really raising her voice. Obviously Willow's attempt at ignoring the fact she was in Faith's bed and acting totally normal wasn't working.

"B" it was Faith's turn "don't get you panties in a twist...we're fully clothed!"

Perhaps that wasn't the right thing to say either. She had meant that they obviously hadn't been up to anything but Buffy may take it differently, like _look it's okay we got dressed before you came in_. Willow giggled next to her and Faith turned to see what was so funny. She couldn't decide if it was nervous laughter or if Willow just found the horrified look on Buffy's face kind of entertaining.

"Chill Buffy!" Willow was still laughing "We were just talking!"

"Talking?" Buffy was frozen on the spot. Faith wasn't sure if Buffy believed them or whether she was just horrified that they were so friendly.

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

Buffy obviously remembered she had legs and walked out the room, leaving the bedroom door open behind her. Faith watched her disappear out of sight before turning back to Willow and pulling an apologetic face.

"I didn't think sorry" she admitted "I was still half asleep."

"It doesn't matter" Willow batted the apology away "It's not like we've done something wrong."

Willow climbed out the bed and stood up, doing a couple of stretches as she moved. She looked remarkably calm considering the amount of hassle that was going to come from the likes of Xander now.

"I suppose we better get ready for our scoobie meeting."

They would only be delaying the inevitable if they stood round talking now. Willow nodded in reply and moved to the open doorway, the red head stopped and swung back round to face Faith again. She looked less relaxed now, more thoughtful and weary.

"If things start getting a little rough...." her voice trailed off. Faith knew what was up; Willow was worried about losing her temper again. She wished Willow had completed her train of thought but Faith had an inkling she knew what Willow was asking.

"I'll be right by you" Faith promised "I'll be right there if you need me."

"Thanks Faith" Willow said softly before turning around again and leaving.

The red head closed the door behind her, leaving Faith alone and a little bit irritated. She was trying so hard to hold her patience with the others but she was going to start snapping at them if they kept pushing Willow so much.

Faith sprung out of bed, deciding that she needed to be ready before Willow so the struggling witch didn't have to face the others alone.

* * *

Buffy was at a loss about what to think of what she'd just seen. Willow had spent the night in Faith's room, in Faith's bed. She must have gone down there after seeing Buffy in the corridor the night before. Why though? Had she really just gone to the basement for a chat and stayed the night? Could Willow and Faith be an item? Could they be actually sleeping together, like the having sex kind of sleeping? Had Willow gone mad?

There were lots of questions where swelling in her mind and Buffy had no answers to them, although if she took the pair at their word then they had merely been talking. Something just didn't fit in Buffy's head and she felt like she was missing at least half the pieces in the jigsaw.

She made her way into the lounge where Xander and Giles were sat at the table, both tucking into pancakes made by the wonderful Chloe. Dawn was sat in front of the TV watching some terrible morning talk show like it was the most riveting thing she'd ever seen.

"What's up Buff?" Xander asked as she plinked herself next to Dawn on the sofa. She hadn't realised it would be so obvious to the others but as they had instantly noticed she was going to have to explain herself.

"Erm...I found Willow" she admitted "she was in Faith's bed!"

That was perhaps a little more direct than she should have been because Giles dropped his pancake on the table in shock and Dawn instantly turned the sound off the TV. Xander sat very still, holding one of his pancakes in front of him. At first Buffy thought he was in shock but then she realised he was trying to hold in his anger and the pancake crumbled in his grip.

"They said they were just talking" Buffy tried to rescue the situation "they were clothed and stuff!"

Dawn seemed to be satisfied by this answer and turned the volume back on the TV; you'd have thought nothing had happened. Giles seemed a little surprised but he too continued with what he was doing and rescued the pancake he had dropped from the table. Xander's expression did not change but he was silent. Buffy suspected that after the incident over lunch the day before he would probably try to hold his tongue.

Buffy had only been able to talk to him for about ten minutes after he had stormed out of lunch because she needed to go to work. Not that her little part time secretary job at the college was more important than Xander but she could do without being sacked. He had felt very guilty about being so insensitive but he was also very freaked by how quick Willow had lost it. They all lived with the knowledge that Willow could turn all veiny and evil again but it was bubbling a little closer to the surface than Buffy was comfortable with.

"Are we expected just to get used to these sleepovers?" Xander finally spoke up.

"I don't know" Buffy really didn't have a clue either.

"I think you should fill me in later" Xander said wearily "I'm going to head off for work early."

Buffy knew there was no point stopping him, it was probably better if he did go now or there would surely be another confrontation. She watched him pick up his things and go, he didn't even bother saying bye or anything.

"He's going to get used to Faith being around at some point isn't he?" Dawn turned to her and asked. Obviously she hadn't been as engrossed in the programme as Buffy had previously thought.

"Yeah" Buffy replied without conviction in her voice. Dawn was right, he had to just accept it eventually but right now that seemed very far away.

After about fifteen minutes Faith appeared with a plate of pancakes she had obviously got from the kitchen. The brunette slayer plonked herself down on the other sofa and tucked into her breakfast, watching the crappy morning TV with Dawn.

* * *

Willow had dashed back to her room to avoid having to speak to anyone and had a rushed shower before getting dressed. She didn't want to be late to the lounge and draw even more attention on herself but she didn't want to be early either so she waited till it was bang on 8am before leaving her room.

When she arrived in the lounge she found that everyone was already there apart from Xander. Buffy and Dawn were sat on one sofa, Faith was on the other sofa and Giles, Andrew and Chloe where sat round the lounge table. Everyone's heads shot up to look at her when she entered, like they all had homing beacons. Even Faith had looked up from her breakfast at her but at least the brunette slayer had just looked away again and wasn't staring like the others.

Willow decided that even though everyone obviously thought her and Faith were getting with the lesbian loving she was far safer sitting by the brunette slayer. She made her way cautiously to the sofa and sat herself next to Faith, waiting for someone to start speaking.

"Well now everyone is hear we'll get started" Giles chirped up, climbing to his feet and beginning to pace.

"Where's Xander?" Willow was worried why he wasn't there, was he really that upset with her?

"He went to work" Dawn was the first to answer "It's probably for the best right now!"

It was a very honest answer, Buffy or Giles would have probably tried to skirt around it a bit more but Dawn had definitely picked her bluntness of Anya. Not that Willow minded, Dawn was refreshingly upfront about things and was not afraid to say how she felt.

"Anyway" Giles cleared his throat "back to the meeting. Buffy and Faith were being followed last night and Faith got a look at the creature."

"Was it ugly?" Andrew's silly question was directed at Faith.

"It was short, blue-ish, lumpy and bulgy eyed" Faith replied "is that your type?"

"Is it rich?" Chloe joined in "that's all I stipulate!"

"I forgot to ask" Faith laughed "it seemed in too much of a hurry for a chat!"

Giles cleared his throat again and started cleaning his glasses with the sleeve of his jumper. This was a sign for everyone to get serious again and everyone seemed to oblige.

"That's not much to go on" Dawn pointed out "I mean they just don't sound like the big bad."

"No" Buffy agreed "I can't imagine it's them that have got the vampires on the run."

"No we're obviously facing something much bigger" Faith agreed, still tucking into her pancakes.

"I expect what Faith saw was some sort of servant" Giles joined in.

"Like a worker bee" it seemed like a logical statement to Willow but everyone except Giles looked at her a little strangely.

"Worker bee?" Faith enquired through a mouthful of pancake.

"The queen bee in the hive has one main role; she reproduces and creates more bees. There are two other types of bees in a colony, drones which do the whole mating thing and worker bees. The produce the honey, take care of the queen and maintain the hive."

Willow wasn't sure if her explanation would be that helpful and she really did sometimes hate the feeling of being the geek of the group.

"So we need to work out what type of demon or creature our queen bee is" Faith seemed to have grasped what Willow was getting at.

"Exactly" Giles agreed "unfortunately we only have our worker bees to go on so we will have to try and find a reference to them for now."

Giles was obviously hoping that if they found out what the strange little creatures where then they could narrow down the candidate for 'the big bad' as Dawn had so eloquently put it.

"Where the hell do we start looking?" asked Chloe. It was actually quite a good question, it didn't sound like the little creatures would be in a book about demons unless they were referenced briefly. It was a long shot that they would be able to find them, even in all the reading material they had at the hotel.

"Got anything specific on nocturnal creatures or one's that usually reside deep underground?" Faith stood up and walked towards Giles.

"Yes one or two why?" Giles looked confused by Faith's interest in the research of the creature, he like everyone else would have expected her to run away right now.

"I'll have those then" Faith declared "I have a hunch."

"You're going to read?!" Buffy voiced what everyone was surely thinking; even Willow had to admit that she was shocked.

"I can read" Faith muttered defensively "there's nothing better to do is there?"

"I'm going out on foot" Buffy replied "I'm not really good at the whole research thing, I'd rather go look for Willow's hive somewhere."

"That's a good idea Buffy!" Willow cut in "You search the streets and we'll search the books!"

She was worried that this was about to become a full blown argument between the two as Faith looked a little peeved by everyone's surprise at her wanting to help research. Besides, she had a hunch that she knew what Faith's hunch was. If Faith was right then Buffy would see nothing at all during the day but it was worth a try and Buffy usually got in the way during research.

So Buffy went for a walk, Andrew went to open the shop and the rest settled down to begin searching through the fifty or so books Giles had brought in from the library in the converted bedroom across the hall.

Chloe, Dawn and Giles sat at the table and read but Willow and Faith stayed on the sofa. Faith started on a book about creatures of the deep whilst Willow began reading a book about nocturnal demons. Faith obviously though that the creatures blue hue and appearance meant that it never saw daylight and Willow thought it was probably a good call. Obviously Giles thought so too because he was reading a book specifically about nocturnal demons as well.


	12. Chapter 12

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Faith had never done the whole research thing before. As a slayer she was built for action, other people can do the intellectual stuff. In a way prison had changed that for her a little bit, she was now more used to sitting around for long periods and being inactive. She had also done a lot of reading in prison just to kill the boredom a bit. They also made you do all sorts of crazy classes like IT, Art, Drama and Creative Writing. It's meant to help with rehabilitation apparently but Faith wasn't so into writing or acting out her feelings.

She actually didn't mind sitting there and reading through endless pages of facts and theories about demons. It was a little boring sure, but it was better than sitting staring at a wall like she'd had to endure a lot of the time over the last few years. In fact it was quite nice to feel useful to the gang rather than just being the second slayer.

They had been sat around reading for about three hours and obviously nobody had found anything because the room was silent. Chloe had disappeared of into the kitchen to make lunch but Dawn and Giles were still sat at the table flicking through compendiums of demons. Faith and Willow had picked up fairly big books and Faith's was full of text and no illustrations so she literally had to read every word on the page. No briefly flicking through for Faith, it was a bit of a baptism of fire.

Somehow the two of them had got themselves comfortable on the sofa by bringing their feet up to rest on the seat as well and their legs had become intertwined. Faith hadn't noticed for a while but then she had looked across to see how Willow was doing and caught a glimpse of how they were sat. She wasn't even sure if Willow had noticed yet because she hadn't noticed Willow glance up from the book once during the whole morning. In fact the first time Willow lifted her head was when Buffy re-appeared just before lunch time.

"Hey guys" she had greeted on the way in, "any luck?"

"None" Dawn sulked, "I don't think we're getting anywhere at all with this."

"It's a bit soon to be giving up yet Dawn" Willow pointed out, briefly glancing over her book at Buffy's younger sibling.

"For you guys maybe" Buffy stated, "me and Dawn need to get going though."

"Yippee" Dawn replied sarcastically, "and I thought this was boring!"

Faith watched Buffy pull a disproving luck at her sister and Dawn responded by putting down her book and trudging of to her room to get ready. Faith had never had a chance to see their interaction properly since Joyce died so she hadn't realised how motherly Buffy was towards her. In a way though Dawn had actually had a larger and closer family than most because she had the gang, Faith had noticed last time in Sunnydale that Xander, Giles, Willow, Spike and Anya had all been like parents towards her. It must have been really hard on Dawn when Anya died and Spike had to leave because of the amulet.

"Put the books down for a bit and get some lunch everyone" Chloe suddenly burst in, "I made a load of sandwiches for you to pick at."

"You're a star" Faith replied, she was the first to put her book down and head to the dining room. The others obviously weren't at a good place to stop so it took them a few minutes to catch her up. Buffy and Dawn did not eat with them but took some sandwiches with them and headed off to college.

After lunch Faith carried on reading for about an hour until Giles dragged her downstairs for the training session he'd promised the day before. This left Willow and Chloe researching on their own in the lounge with a pile of books higher than the table to work through.

Giles had started doing some basics with her to test how fit she was after being locked away for so long. He had her doing press ups and sit ups and loads of stretches before doing some strength work on the horse and fitness work on the steps.

"You're really not in bad shape at all" he declared after about 50 minutes, "I'm impressed!"

"I used to get an hour's access to the gym every day" Faith explained, "Oh and an hour in the courtyard so I did some jogging."

"Two hours" Giles sounded thoughtful, "that must have driven you mad, slayers aren't meant to be so inactive!"

_You're telling me_ thought Faith, she had spent months just feeling blank and lifeless at first. Then she had tried to embrace the experience a bit more like Angel had told her too, hence the reading and attempting to learn things in IT class.

"I think my reaction time has suffered a bit" Faith admitted, "that's what I got Willow to help me with yesterday."

"Yes she said you had her helping you on the punch bags" Giles seemed pleased, "she seemed to have really enjoyed it."

Obviously Willow had been talking to Giles about her yesterday evening when she had been out patrolling. Faith doubted Willow had took too much enjoyment from watching Faith on the punch bags but the witch could hardly tell Giles she was overjoyed because she had been practising magic.

"Good" Faith finally replied, "I think she preferred throwing stuff at me though!"

"That's my favourite bit too!" Giles grinned, "perfect anger management...in fact that's what I was about to suggest we do!"

This was bound to be more of a challenge than it had been the day before against Willow. Willow's aim was awry and lacked power, Giles on the other hand had an excellent aim and a very quick throwing action meaning he got plenty of speed going.

He did start slowly though, giving Faith time to mentally warm up before he really went for it. She did manage to avoid anything hitting her by dodging and blocking but there were one or two near misses. She was not as quick to react as she had been a few years ago before prison but she wasn't too far off.

"That's not bad either" Giles informed her, "give it a week and you'll feel 100% again."

"Thanks" Faith really appreciated his encouragement and his support. Having Giles on side and giving her a chance was to prove herself was probably the most important step towards the others trusting her. Giles was the father figure; if he was seen to be pro-Faith then she knew the others (i.e. Xander) would eventually follow.

* * *

Willow was starting to really tire of researching by 4pm as she had only just finished the first book. She wished she hadn't gone for such deep reading material and she had stuck to the books with the pretty illustration in like the others had.

She had stood up to take another book when Xander arrived home early from work. He had a couple of shopping bags with him so he had obviously finished work at least an hour before.

"Construction site had to close because of a pipe leak" he explained before anyone got the chance to ask him.

"Lucky you" Chloe replied from behind the large old back she was flicking through.

"How's the research going?" Xander directed the question at Chloe but Willow answered first.

"Crap" she informed him "the little buggers are nowhere to be found at the moment!"

"That's rough" he turned towards Willow, "where's your girlfriend?"

Willow winced at his question, Faith was not her girlfriend and he was being really presumptuous. His tone however was not as hostile as it had been over the last couple of days so she decided not to argue with him quite yet.

"If you mean Faith then she is in the gym with Giles" she was pleased with her response. Her tone was friendly but she was obviously making the point that they were not together.

"Oh right" he continued, "Buffy wanted a phone for her so I've just brought her one on the way home for work."

"You got a phone for Faith?" Willow was in shock.

"Um yeah" Xander looked a little sheepish, "It's nothing spectacular...just a basic cell phone."

"That's great!"

Willow realised that she should be encouraging this behaviour not just standing and gawping at him. She had a feeling that this was a way of relieving a bit of guilt from the day before. He was doing something helpful to try and apologise for his outburst at lunch time. That was the thing with Xander, even when he was oblivious to things and he acted badly he was still easy to love in a friendly kind of way. He always came through in one way or the other.

"Listen Will" he began, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't think about what I was saying...you know I don't think of you as a...well it was the magic and the grief and...Well I don't always think you know that!"

"I know" Willow couldn't help but smile, "I'm sorry I lost in on you but I wish you'd give Faith a chance."

Xander's face fell a bit; obviously he was still not too sure about Faith's presence at the hotel. He shifted his weight from foot to foot awkwardly for a moment.

"I'm struggling with that" he eventually spoke up, "but I'm not about to demand that we eject her from the building or anything!"

That was progress at least because on Tuesday morning he looked ready to try and remove Faith himself but now, two days later, he seemed to be accepting her presence there. It was a small step towards him getting over his Faith hating thing but it was a positive step at least and that was a good thing.

Willow was about to change the subject and ask him about the leak at work but Giles emerged from downstairs and approached her. He looked like he'd had a good work out too whilst training Faith.

"Faith asked if you'd join her in the gym" Giles informed her. Gilles seemed to think nothing of the request but Xander looked a little curious.

"Time for my work out" Willow explained, hoping neither of them would ask any questions and just presume Faith was teaching her to fight. Xander raised is eyebrow, obviously thinking there could be a slightly kinky meaning to what she'd said.

"I'll set the phone up and put everyone's number's on it" he told her, still giving her a curious look.

"Thanks" she replied as she headed off towards the basement.

She found Faith sat on the back of the wooden gym horse, looking contented even though she was a little hot and sweaty.

"Good workout?" Willow asked as she closed the door behind them, giving some privacy.

"Yeah" Faith replied cheerfully, "five by five!"

Willow always noted how the old Faith came out to play a bit more after she's trained or slayed. The adrenaline obviously brought it out of her because the rest of the time she seemed very chilled.

"Wanna do some shield spells again?" Faith enquired, "Starting with a couple of simple wall shield's again?"

It was a silly question, of course Willow wanted to practise the shield spells. How else was she ever going to get control of her magic without them? Faith must have seen the approval in her eyes because the slayer jumped off the horse and gave her some space to cast her spell.

Willow went through her usual process and called up the shield, holding it for ten seconds like Faith requested. She was finding it easier to concentrate than the day before, perhaps because she was in a better mood or possibly because she was beginning to get into a routine with the spell.

"Easy?" Faith asked after Willow dropped her hand and the shield disappeared.

"Surprisingly so" Willow admitted, "I feel very relaxed."

"Good" Faith gave her a firm but friendly pat on the shoulder, "Do it again but this time try and make your shield closer to you."

Faith stepped away again but this time not as far. Obviously Faith expected Willow to get it right first time or she'd have given her more room. Willow took a deep breath and lifted her hand again, thinking about wrapping the shield around her like a blanket, and then she cast the spell.

She could feel tingling close to her skin and she knew she had the shield working perfectly. Faith approached Willow with her hand out, obviously unsure of where the shield was but keen to find out. She had virtually reached Willow's hand when before she stopped, maybe an inch away from Willow's palm. Faith smirked and followed the shield along Willow's arm to her shoulder, making the shield ripple as she went.

"Now that's really cool" Faith declared, flirtatiously running her hand down the shield in front of Willow's chest. Although Faith wasn't making contact with her, Willow could feel the rippling of the shield against her body slightly and she had to really concentrate so she didn't drop the shield. She did however gasp slightly and Faith's eyes shot up to meet hers. The brunette slayer looked a little surprised by Willow's reaction but there was also something else in her eyes. Willow could swear she briefly saw a flash of desire...or perhaps it was just wishful thinking. Whatever it was gone quickly and Faith stepped back out of Willow's personal space, allowing Willow to drop the shield again.

"One more" Faith commanded, "this time make it further away again and I'll do something distracting!"

"Something distracting?" Willow thought Faith already had tried to distract her; if running her hand across Willow's body wasn't meant to be distracting then what the hell was Faith going to do.

"Practising Magic?" A very pissed of voice came from the doorway. Willow didn't know when Buffy had entered but obviously she and Faith had been too distracted to notice. It wasn't just Buffy though, Giles was stood behind the blonde slayer and they both looked incredibly concerned.

"Magical control" Faith responded calmly and quickly, "Stay and watch if you want?"

"Shield spells" Willow tried to explain, "the English coven showed me them."

Buffy looked to Giles for some an opinion on the matter but he seemed undecided and was vigorously chewing on his bottom lip.

"I thought you were staying clear of magic?" Buffy still sounded really pissed off.

"I was trying but then when things get rough you expect me to get out the big guns!" Willow snapped at her. She hadn't meant to sound so angry but she was so frustrated with the attitude of Buffy and Giles that she couldn't help herself.

"Chill red" Faith said softly, "B just doesn't understand what it's like to lose yourself in something."

"Oh and of course you do" Buffy snapped at Faith but Giles' hand was on her shoulder immediately, silencing the blonde slayer.

"Let's see this spell" Giles said, "I've heard of using shield spells to improve concentration."

Willow wasn't even sure if she could do the spell now, she had felt so in control before Buffy and Giles had turned up but now she felt irate again. Faith seemed to sense this and she placed her hand on Willow's back and guided her into space again.

"Let's just keep it simple for now" Faith said softly so the other two couldn't hear her. The brunette slayer gave her a soft squeeze on her upper arm before backing away from her again.

Willow closed her eyes and took two deep breaths, trying to set herself up correctly and ignore the other two's presence. She raised her hand, willed the shield to form in front of her and hey presto it worked. She fought the urge to look at the other two but she couldn't help but steal glances at them to see what they were thinking.

"Concentrate Willow" Faith's voice was firm and Willow immediately looked straight ahead at Faith again and focused completely on the shield. Faith stepped forward and slammed her hand into the shield, causing a huge ripple.

"It's a shield" Buffy seemed unimpressed.

"Actually its magical energy being channelled through Willow to form a shield" Faith corrected, "and Willow happens to be doing so in a very controlled manner."

Willow dropped the shield and stood silently waiting for Giles or Buffy to comment again. Giles was silent and thoughtful but Buffy still looked un-amused.

"How does it help?" at least Buffy was asking questions rather than just going off on one.

"Think slaying" Faith explained "you're a better slayer after all the training you've done with Giles than you were before I imagine...more controlled perhaps?"

"Yes" Buffy replied, looking less peeved now and more like she understood where Faith was going with this.

"Willow needs to practise certain elements of magic to help her stay in control, spells that encourage concentration and precision" Faith continued.

Willow actually felt like launching at the brunette slayer and kissing her. She couldn't have put it better herself, in fact she'd never been able to even make the others listen to her about magic. Faith seemed to actually be getting through to Buffy, it was a minor miracle.

"Okay" Buffy had calmed, "but no practising without one of us three present."

"Okay" Willow instantly agreed. She had no intention of casting any spells on her own unless in a dire emergency anyway.

"Well, I think we'll leave you to it" Giles stated, obviously keen to discuss the matter with Buffy in private.

The two left leaving Willow in two minds. She was pleased that they had accepted her practising basic magic but she also knew that Buffy was not entirely happy about it. She didn't know if she was going to get hassle about it or not.

"I'll distract you this time then you can call it a day" Faith seemed a bit weary but she was obviously determined to keep working with Willow on this. Willow was grateful for Faith's support and for the level of understanding she had demonstrated about everything to Buffy.

Faith walked away and picked up two of the wooden weapons they used in slayer training; obviously she was going to throw them at the shield. Willow was confident that wouldn't distract her so she prepared herself and raised the shield again.

Faith waited a few seconds before throwing one of the weapons, she did it so suddenly that it did make Willow jump slightly, but she didn't drop her concentration on the shield so it just bounced of the invisible barrier. The second one came just as suddenly but again Willow's concentration was unshaken and the weapon hit the shield causing a large ripple before falling to the floor.

"Excellent" Faith was smiling broadly, "drop it now red and we'll go face the music!"

Obviously Faith suspected there was going to be more said about the magic too but at least she wasn't too concerned. Willow dropped the shield and picked up the weapons, placing them back on the wall in their places. When she turned around she found Faith was still stood still and smiling at her.

"Thanks Faith" Willow truly was grateful, "this is really helping."

Faith looked pleased that Willow grateful and bounded over to her, wrapping one arm around Willows shoulders and pulling Willow against her so they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Come on redemption buddy" she said cheerfully, "there are worst things out there than a pissed off Buffy!"

"Like what?" Willow couldn't think of too many things, the odd slimy demon perhaps.

"A pissed off witch" Faith smirked at her before releasing her and walking off. Willow watched her walk away for a few steps before smiling and following her. _Very true_ Willow thought, _very true_.

* * *

Buffy had only waited until the top of the basement stares before stopping Giles and asking him what he thought of Faith and Willow's antics.

"I don't know" he admitted, "but it is true that those kinds of spells do help with magical control."

"I'm just worried" Buffy admitted, "I want Faith to be genuine but I just have this fear."

Giles put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her and Buffy instantly relaxed. Obviously he was less concerned than she was about the situation and she trusted his opinion.

"We all have that fear" Giles admitted, "not only about Faith but also about Willow and the magic... but I must confess that I do believe Faith has seen the error of her ways."

Buffy had the same feeling too, that Faith had honestly learnt a lot from her stay in prison. It was just hard to accept her and Willow's friendship or whatever it was. In fact it seemed even more likely now that the two were in some sort of relationship; they seemed to close to be just friends.

"What's Faith done that's got you so worried?" Xander had obviously been stood in the doorway of the kitchen for a while and had heard at least some of the conversation.

"She's supervising Willow doing some spells that will help with learning to control her magic" Giles explained. It was a much nicer explanation than Buffy could have mustered and it didn't seem to rile Xander too much.

"That's a good thing right?" Xander seemed to be looking to her more than to Giles, obviously expecting a more honest answer from her.

"If it's for the right reasons" Buffy replied, "It's all on trust at the moment."

Xander looked a little perturbed by what Buffy had said to him but he seemed to take it in his stride better than he had earlier in the week.

"We'll just have to keep an eye on it" he said evenly, "closely."


	13. Chapter 13

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Willow had trudged up the stairs after Faith and into the lounge where everyone seemed to be gathered doing some research. Andrew was using his own laptop to trawl the internet and Xander, Giles and Dawn had their heads in a book. Xander raised his head out of the book when the pair entered and greeted them.

"Hey, diner is in an hour or so at half six apparently."

"Thanks" Willow replied, relieved that no one had started shouting at her the second she entered the room.

"Oh Faith" he continued "there is a cell phone charging for you by the TV, it's got our numbers saved on it so it's all ready for you."

Faith looked a little surprised by Xander's change in mood with her and Willow felt a little guilty for not warning her about the sudden shift.

"Cool...thanks" Faith finally managed to reply, still looking aghast.

Willow picked up a book from the top of the research pile and headed towards the same sofa as before. Faith was right on her heals and the brunette slayer picked up the book she had been part way through earlier from the floor by the sofa and settled next to Willow again.

"Are you researching?" Xander sounded stunned from across the room.

"Jesus I can read you know!" Faith laughed "Why do you all think I'm illiterate!"

"You always avoided research" he pointed out.

"That's because I was young and all junked up on crazy slayer energy" Faith explained, "couldn't sit long enough to research."

"I thought you might just be trying to impress Willow" he replied a little too honestly. Willow actually felt herself blush at his comment even though she should have been annoyed with him for it.

"Not at all I assure you" Faith replied, "I have my fabulous physique to do that with!"

It was said so calmly that Xander's jaw just dropped in shock and everyone else seemed to be suddenly interested in the conversation. Willow on the other hand saw the humour behind Faith's comment and accidently snorted with laughter.

"Matter over mind" she giggled.

Faith tilted her head towards Willow and smirked, obviously Faith had decided to have some fun with the others suspicions about the nature of their relationship. She then swung her legs up so they were on top of Willows, her knees bent, so she was sat across the sofa. Everyone was still watching but now Dawn was giggling at Faiths antics too even though the others just looked confused and embarrassed.

Faith's knees where actually in a useful place though because Willow could use them as a book rest rather than having to support the weight of the heavy book alone. The brunette slayer didn't seem to protest when Willow did so and was actually smirking still whilst reading her research book. Every now and again Willow could see Faith glancing at her over the book and Willow would glance back and they would smile at each other. She was starting to feel a bit like a teenager flirting with a school crush, she knew she should really stop it, especially as the others were in the same room as them.

Eventually Buffy appeared in the lounge to tell them that diner was ready, the blonde slayer took a slight double take at Willow and Faith on the sofa before quickly looking away. Willow didn't think they had all ate together this many times in one week in months but Chloe seemed to be going all out to get them all together and trying to improve the atmosphere.

It hadn't really worked so far, especially when Xander was there, because it had leant to conflict. This time however it ran smoothly as the attention was taken away from Faith. Instead Xander seemed content to tell them about the huge accidental gas leak and Dawn was as content as ever to chat about college. Even Andrew seemed on song and related a funny story about a weird customer that had been in the shop. As annoying as Andrew could be he was actually quite a funny guy but he had been quite over the last couple of days, obviously uncomfortable by the tension in the hotel.

After diner Dawn began to help Chloe clean up whilst Willow, Xander and Giles settled down to do some research again. Faith and Buffy went to grab coats from their rooms before going out on patrol. When they re-appeared in the lounge Willow suddenly remembered Faith's new phone which was still charging by the TV.

"Faith" Willow got the slayers attention as she unplugged the new cell phone. It was a blue Nokia, nothing exciting but it would do the job and they were easier to use than most phones.

"Your phone" she explained, tossing it to the brunette slayer who was stood across the room from her.

"Cheers red" she caught the phone easily, "nice throw!"

"My techniques improving" Willow smirked back, unable to suppress a giggle as everyone else in the room seemed very interested in the two of them again.

"Riiiiiiiiiight!" Buffy spoke up nervously, "I think we'll be going now!"

"Take care" Willow called after them.

"We'll be five by five!" Faith replied from the doorway, "happy reading!"

* * *

Faith made her way west towards the graveyard again to patrol. She didn't know her way around enough to go east towards the clubs and shops yet so it made sense for Buffy to patrol the East when they split up. Faith's area didn't just contain the graveyard, first she had to patrol through a few streets of houses.

There was nothing sinister on these streets and all she saw was a few average people coming and going from some of the houses. She had the sense straight away though that she was again being followed; it had started the second she had left the hotel.

Once she arrived at the graveyard she decided to quickly patrol around in case there actually was the odd vampire hanging around. Then she would turn her attention to the creature that was following her and try to get a better look at it.

The large graveyard was as silent as the night before and even though she had walked all the way around it she had still seen nothing within the last half an hour. It was only about nine and had only just gone completely dark so she decided to sweep around once again. This time she was luckier and she discovered a group of three vampires hiding out in one of the crypts.

The discovery of these vampires confirmed to her that something was making the local blood suckers lay very low. She wasn't going to leave them there though, they may not be hunting tonight but they would have to at some point. They were fairly easy to deal with although a particularly muscular one but up a good fight, he must have been into martial arts whilst he was still alive.

That seemed to be it for tonight, she wasn't going to kick the door down to see inside every crypt or tomb and there was certainly no vampires wandering around. She turned her focus completely towards what was following her. She had heard movement a few times as she had been patrolling, usually at a fair distance from her and of towards the dark trees that ran around the edge of the cemetery.

She found the spot where she had seen the creature the night before and wondered where it had escaped too. She took a closer look at the small gap in the fence and noticed that it had recently been cut. Had the creatures cut a gap into the fence or had it already been there? It didn't look big enough for teenagers to use and it was easy enough just to enter through one of the main gates.

She walked about ten foot along the fence line and found another gap cut away, it was a similar size to the first. These were escape routes for the creatures, so that they could get away from the two slayers if seen. Next question; were where the creatures escaping too? Was their base somewhere on the other side of the graveyard? Was it nearby?

Faith decided to go investigate so she headed back towards an exit she had seen on that side of the graveyard. Once she was out and on the disserted road outside she followed the fence line again until she found the gap in the fence she had seen the creature escape through the night before. She recognised that particular gap by the DIY warehouse that was opposite it.

The night before she had briefly seen the creature cross the road and head in the direction of these buildings. The DIY warehouse was obviously well kept and in use but behind the warehouse stood a fairly vast looking industrial estate. It was late at night and all shut up but there where one or two street lights that provided a little illumination around the site.

She followed the road into the industrial estate and looked round for anything suspicious. So far all she could see where warehouse buildings and workshops that seemed to still be in use. It seemed very unlikely that any of these buildings would contain a Demon's nest.

Then she noticed a building with locked security gates around it and a large closed sign on it. She got closer to the sign and began to read the smaller print; it was closed because it was going to be demolished because of axial failure. What was axial failure when it was at home? Faith had no clue about buildings but she knew somebody that did; what would he make of her ringing him?

She decided to bite the bullet at ring him so she took out the phone and looked through the contacts for Xander's name. Once she found him she took a deep breath and rang the number, waiting for him to pick up. Whilst she waited she noticed a gap cut in the security fence, it was just like the one in the cemetery...she was obviously on to a winner.

"Faith?" A very confused Xander answered the phone, "is everything okay?"

"I'm stood outside a warehouse that's been closed down because of axial failure" Faith explained.

"Axial failure" Xander repeated, "that's unusual for a warehouse...it's usually high rise buildings that suffer from axial failure."

"What is it?" she quizzed. She knew it had to be important and she was also becoming aware of movement around her, like there was more than one of the creatures now.

"Foundation failure" Xander stated, "usually caused by too much pressure or weight."

"Could it be caused by pressure from underneath?"

Faith's eyes darted around the warehouses, trying to locate the creatures causing the scuttling sounds she could hear.

"Yeah" Xander replied, "it can be caused by earthquakes and things like that...why?"

There was suddenly a loud scuttle much nearer to her and she briefly saw the outline of something small darting behind a nearby bush. These things were damn fast and she was starting to feel very exposed where she was standing.

"I think I've found our hive" she explained, "but I have company...can you ring Buffy and call her back to the hotel?"

"Sure...but..." she cut Xander off and ended the phone call. There was more movement close by and she really needed to focus on that right now.

She wasn't scared of these strange creatures individually but she kept getting images of bees swarming around a hive and was worried that she was about to be attacked by hundreds of the little blighters.

She started to walk through the industrial estate and towards the graveyard but she had only got a few yards when there was movement very close behind her. She swung round and kicked low, sending one of the blue creatures flying back into another. There was two more approaching fast so she readied herself to face them but then she felt a sharp pain in the side of her right thigh.

She grabbed at her leg to find that one of the creatures had stabbed her in the leg with a small but sharp knife. It hurt like hell but she ignored the weapon that was wedged in her leg and grabbed the creature that had stabbed her, tossing it towards the two approaching creatures and bowling them over like pins. She ripped the knife out of her leg, the wound was oozing quite a bit of blood but it wasn't too serious, she could still run.

More scuttling alerted her to more creatures and now she knew they were vicious she didn't fancy facing too many on her own right this second. She took off in a run, knowing she would have to really push herself if she was going to stay ahead of the evil little fuckers.

Her leg stung like crazy but she made it to the road quickly and she was left with two choices. Run to the nearest entrance of the graveyard and risk the creatures ducking through the fence and cutting her off. Or she could throw herself over the fence and risk injuring herself further. She went for the quicker option and ran at the fence, placing her hands on the rail between the spikes and vaulting over it. The bottom of her jeans caught on the fence and ripped slightly which meant she landed on the other side in a rather undignified manner...on her face. It hurt much less than her leg though and the jeans were already covered in blood and had a huge hole in so she couldn't give a damn about the rip and the dirt that was now caking the front of them.

She scrambled to her feet quickly and sprinted across the graveyard. She could still hear the sounds of movement behind her but it was getting fainter; most of the creatures were giving up the chase. Once she'd reached the other side of the graveyard and got into the residential area she knew that they were no longer chasing her. She was sure at least one was still following her but she was no longer at risk of being attacked.

She slowed to a fast walk as she headed through the streets towards the hotel. Her leg was really throbbing and the wound was covered in dirt which was now turning into mud because of the blood.

"Fuck" she muttered to herself as she tripped over the edge of the curb, jarring her sensitive leg further. She was nearly back at the hotel now where she could clean up and sort the wound out but she'd have to fill the others in first. She had definitely found the nest otherwise those creatures wouldn't have attacked her. Now they just had to work out what they were hiding in that abandoned warehouse.

* * *

Willow and Xander had been sat around the table researching when his phone had gone off. She had watched confusion play across his face as he answered it and was shocked when he said the brunette slayers name. Why was Faith ringing Xander of all people? What was up?

She couldn't hear Faith at all but Xander was talking about some sort of foundation failure to her. Somewhere or other Faith had obviously found a building that was falling down or something and Faith was suspicious of it. Then there was talk of earthquakes that made little sense to Willow, there hadn't been an earthquake recently so why would a building have earthquake damage.

The conversation seemed to end suddenly and Xander actually looked concerned. Willow had been desperate to find out what was going on during the phone conversation but she had held back. The second the phone call stopped though she wanted to know what was happening.

"What's wrong?" she tried to sound calm, "where's Faith?"

"Hang on I need to ring Buffy" he replied, instantly fiddling with his phone and dialling the blonde slayer.

Willow wasn't the only person who wanted to know what was going on, both Giles and Dawn had got up from the sofa's and where stood by the table waiting.

"Buffy" Xander greeted, "Faith thinks she's found the nest so you need to come back right now."

There was a pause whilst Xander listened to whatever Buffy was saying on the other end of the phone.

"I don't know" he replied, "but she said she had company."

Willow's gut felt like it was twisting with anxiety because it sounded like Faith was in trouble. She hoped the brunette slayer hadn't decided to take a close look at the nest and put herself in danger. Young and stupid Faith would have done something like that but Faith was more sensible and grounded now wasn't she?

"She's on her way back" Xander informed them as he put the phone down.

"Let's hope Faith is too" Dawn sounded worried too which didn't help Willow's anxiety. She took a deep breath to try and calm her; it would do no good getting panicky in front of the others. Besides, Faith was capable of looking after herself, she was a slayer after all, and Willow had no right to fuss over her. No matter what the other's thought they were not dating...even if Willow might like them to be. She didn't just think that...it was a ridicules idea!

"She'll be fine Will" Xander's voice broke her out of her thoughts. Obviously she had looked worried enough for everyone else to notice and for Xander to be a little concerned for her. She hoped he was right.

There was little to do but keep researching whilst they waited. Buffy appeared after about five minutes, luckily she had been on her way back anyway so she had ran the rest of the way. There was no sign of Faith and after another ten minutes they were considering going to look for her. Just then the front door flew open and Faith hobbled in looking decidedly worse for wear.

Willow was on her feet quickly and her and Buffy reached Faith first. It was then that Willow saw that it was not just dirt caking Faith's jeans but also blood. She had a large wound in her thigh which was obviously causing her a lot of discomfort.

"Faith!"

She didn't care if everyone could hear how concerned she was now because Faith was injured. Willow wanted to grab the brunette and hug her even if she didn't appreciate it.

"Little fuckers are vicious!" Faith spat, "one stabbed be with a knife off some kind."

Willow could see some humour in a slayer getting beaten up by a midget but now didn't seem to be the time to mention it. Faith was obviously not going to be in a joking type of mood.

"I found the location of the nest though" Faith continued, "then the fuckers swarmed me like your little worker bees red."

Willow was surprised when Faith stumbled into her and put her arm around Willow's shoulders, using her like a crutch. Willow took it as an invitation to check the slayers injury with her free hand. As she pulled the dirty material away from the wound she heard Faith hiss through her clenched teeth.

"Sore?" It was an academic question really.

"Not half!" Faith replied through gritted teeth.

Giles was suddenly at their side as well and he handed Faith a glass of water which she gladly accepted. Willow hadn't really noticed at first because she was distracted by the dirt and blood but Faith was also covered in sweat.

"Where is this nest?" Giles asked once Faith had drunk the water and he took the empty glass back of her.

"In an industrial estate on the other side of the graveyard" faith explained, "there is a building there with foundation problems."

"You think the creatures are burrowing down through the building?" Dawn asked.

"Up through the building" Faith replied, "or they've accidentally disturbed the foundations whilst nesting there."

"Why would they necessarily be burrowing up rather than down?" this time Xander was asking the questions.

"Because of the creature's appearance" Giles cut in, "Faith described it as having a blue hue."

"It doesn't see sunlight" Faith agreed.

Willow watched the conversation unfold and realisation hit the others. Whatever they were dealing with was from under the ground and they will have never dealt with anything like it before.

"We need to keep researching" Giles was the first to break the short silence that had descended over the room.

"I'm going to get a shower" Faith declared, "Has anyone got a bandage?"

Chloe had obviously been out to the kitchen during the conversation and was stood in the doorway with the first aid kit in hand. She waved it at Faith, who unhooked herself from Willow and hobbled to the doorway.

"Thank you" she said to Chloe as she took the first aid kit and left the lounge.

Willow wondered if she should follow Faith in case she needed help but then realised that the brunette slayer would have probably asked if she did. Faith was likely to want some privacy so she could deal with the pain on her own without looking weak in front of anyone.


	14. Chapter 14

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 14**

Faith was glad no one had tried to force first aid upon her, she'd much rather patch herself up. Plus she wanted a shower first even if the soap was going to sting like hell when it went in the wound. At least the wound would be clean though.

It really did sting like hell, even the stripping off of clothes had stung but the feeling of hot water and shower gel hitting the stab wound was excruciating. Then she had to try and dry the thigh with a hand towel which wasn't so comfortable either.

Once all that was done she strapped up the leg with two bandages, one on top of the other, to prevent further bleeding. She tossed on a pair of the shorts and vest tops she slept in and dried her hair. She now looked presentable again rather than resembling some sort of mud demon even if she didn't feel too presentable.

She hobbled back up the stairs to the lounge to see what the others were doing and found most of them there researching still. It was only about half ten so they were all still up; the only notable absences were Willow and Buffy. Buffy had probably gone for a shower too after patrol but she had no idea why Willow wasn't there.

The three lads were sat around the table whereas Chloe and Dawn were sat on the sofas but they all had their heads in books. Faiths hobbled over to the sideboard were she had left the book she had been researching through all day. She was only about half way through and she was sure if any book was going to contain the creatures then it would be that one.

"Where's Willow?" she asked Dawn who was sat nearest the book.

"Gone for a shower" Buffy's sister replied, "you covered her in dirt before!"

Faith hadn't realised at the time but she had been completely leant against the red head so obviously dirt would transfer. She only hoped she hadn't wrecked Willow's jeans as well as her own. Faith grabbed her book and took a couple more from the research pile Giles had created by the table.

"That's a lot of late night reading?" Giles pointed out without actually taking his nose out of the book he was reading. _He must have eyes in the back of his head_ Faith thought.

"It's for Willow as well" Faith explained. She didn't care what it looked like, she just wanted to settle down in Willow's room or her own with the red head and keep looking through the book. There was only so long she could sit with the others in one day and she felt sore and miserable.

If anyone did think it odd or suspicious that Faith was taking books to Willow's bedroom they did not bother commenting. She could have sworn she'd seen a slight glance from Xander before he'd settled back down to his book again but nobody else flinched. She headed off towards Willow's room, books in hand, and entered after knocking and getting no response. Willow was obviously still in the shower so Faith settled down on the red heads bed on her front so she could read. She positioned herself so she was facing the footboard end of the bed rather than the headboard and she was directly in front of the shower door. She hadn't really done this on purpose, it was just the nearest side of the bed to the door and at least Willow would realise she was there the second she exited the bathroom.

Willow had took a long shower, not because she was particularly dirty but because she needed to clear her head of all the thought's sloshing round it. She was concerned because of Faith's injury and because of the danger they were obviously facing but that was nothing unusual on the hellmouth. Her thought's seemed to contain less of the danger and more of the Faith than was healthy though.

Thought's of the slayer choosing to lean her weight against her where replaced by memories of physical contact with Faith. Then that was replaced with the memory of Faith running her hand against the wall shield that was centre metres away from her chest. There were other places her mind could wander now...it would be so easily to imagine Faith's hand actually making contact with her and pressing against her. She shook these thoughts away and turned the shower off. This was not good, she shouldn't be thinking of Faith like this.

She stepped out the shower and wrapped the towel around herself as she hadn't bothered bringing her pyjama's into the bathroom. She swung the bathroom door open and nearly leapt out of her skin...there was a person on her bed!

A second glance told her it was Faith and the slayer obviously new she had made her jump because she was clearly smirking from behind the book she was reading.

"You terrified me!"

Faith put the book down in front of her and elevated herself on her elbows a bit more so she was looking up at Willow. Willow suddenly remembered that she was very scantily clad as the towel she had wrapped around her started just above her breasts and ended about half way down her thigh.

"Terribly sorry!" Faith replied in a fairly good mock English accent.

"No you're not!" Willow smirked.

"No I'm not!" Faith agreed, smirking back at her.

Willow tried to walk gracefully past the bed and to the set of drawers where her nightwear was located. She could tell Faith's eyes were following her and she felt a little self conscious as not only was she half naked but she was also still wet. When she reached the drawers she realised that she'd have to crouch down to reach the drawer she needed. That was definitely a no go because the towel was so short that it would climb far too high up her leg and probably even higher than that.

"Need a hand?" Faith seemed to have sensed her dilemma. The slayer was already on her feet and moving towards Willow and the drawers. At least Willow presumed Faith was coming to help get her pyjamas and wasn't coming to do something far more outrageous like towel dry her. That was probably wishful thinking on Willow's behalf.

"Which drawer?" Faith asked once she was stood next to her.

"Bottom one."

Willow watched as Faith knelt down and opened the drawer. The slayer obviously wasn't going to hand her the first thing she saw because Faith began searching through her clothing. She finally stopped searching and stood up, closing the drawer with her food and handed Willow a pair of shorts and the matching T-shirt that went with them. Trust Faith to hand her something that showed off skin rather than Willow's usual long pyjamas.

"You've got nice legs so show them!" Faith's smirk was kind of flirtatious and very cute. Willow gasped involuntarily and her mind seemed to go blank so she couldn't formulate a response. Faith thought she had nice legs!

She wandered back into the bathroom to change in a daze leaving Faith sniggering behind her. This 'friendship' between them was going somewhere odd. They were currently just friends who flirt but they were at a great risk of being fuck buddies or something bizarre like that. The idea was sort of scary because Willow didn't like meaningless sex but then it was no fun being frigid...and she was doing that naughty thinking thing again that she really needed to stop!

She got dressed quickly and entered the bedroom to find Faith back on the bed and reading again. She noticed the two books that were sat on her side of the bed and grinned.

"Wow Faith you brought me more fun research!" Willow couldn't help but be sarcastic.

"I knew you'd love it" Faith winked, "I know I am!"

Willow clambered onto the bed and glanced over Faith's shoulder at her book. No wonder the slayer had only got half way through it, the old dusty thing just consisted of pages of text. Willow was glad she hadn't picked that one up.

She settled back onto the bed so that she was lying on her back with her head on the pillow and her knees up so she could lean her book on them. Faith was still on her front and they were now laying top and tail. They stayed like that in silence for about twenty minutes as they both slowly flicked through the books.

The silence was broken by a knock on the door and Buffy entered wearing stripped pink pyjamas. She looked a little cautious as she entered, like she was worried she may have been interrupting something.

Buffy had gone back to the lounge for a bit after her shower to see how the research was going. The answer was fairly simple...it wasn't going very well. Nobody seemed to be finding any answers in there and it was starting to get late so Giles told everyone to call it a night.

"Somebody should really tell Faith and Willow to stop and rest too" Dawn stated as they were all putting their books down.

"Faith and Willow?" Buffy had noticed the two were absent but hadn't really given it much thought, Faith was injured after all.

"They're researching in Willow's room" Dawn explained. Buffy couldn't decide if Dawn was just being naive or if the two genuinely were researching. A look at Xander told her that he was wondering the same thing.

"I'll tell them on my way to bed" Buffy decided she'd rather walk in on something rather than have Dawn do so.

She made her was to the bedrooms and knocked on Willow's door, not bothering to wait for an answer before entering. It wasn't that she wanted to walk in on them at it but at least she'd know what was going on. They certainly were not at it though, they were both on the bed but they were facing different ways and were definitely researching.

"Hey" Buffy greeted, "Giles is sending everyone to bed so you should lay of the reading and relax!"

"Good" Willow replied, instantly tossing the book on the floor.

"My eyes are starting to go completely gozzy!" the red head continued, sitting up against the head board. Faith on the other hand didn't seem to have heard her and continued to read the old and worn out looking book she was holding. She had a look on her face of deep concentration and Buffy was surprised to see how hard Faith was working.

"I take it no one has found anything?" Willow asked, bringing Buffy attention back to the red head rather than the brunette.

"No" Buffy admitted, "I don't think we will either in any of these books."

"Actually" Faith suddenly spoke up, "I think I've found them."

"What!" Willow exclaimed, scooting down the bed and virtually lying on top of Faith so she could see what Faith was reading. Buffy noted that Faith didn't even seem to react to Willow leaning over; Buffy would have expected her to be uncomfortable with such close proximity. There was a brief silence as Willow read over Faith's shoulder but then Willow scooted over Faith and jumped off the bed. Buffy watched in amazement as Willow sped past her out of the doorway and into the hallway.

"Giles" Willow yelled, "Giles we've found them!"

Instantly Buffy could hear movement from the lounge as the whole team poured into the ground floor corridor to see what was going on.

"We'll Faith found them" Willow admitted as Giles came into view.

Willow scurried back into the room and hopped back onto the bed, now sitting next to Faith who had sat up whilst Willow was shouting down the hall.

Everyone piled into the doorway in expectation and Faith looked a little shell shocked by the audience she'd now gained.

"Um...." she muttered, giving Willow a nervous look before handing the red head the book.

"It basically says that they are called sporcocerca or dirt diggers" Willow explained, "They burrow and make nest deep underground to provide accommodation for a master hunter that provides for them in return."

"They are small unics with pallid completions, rough skin and unparalleled speed allowing them to move stealthily around underground passageways and caverns" Faith added.

"Master hunter?" Giles was more interested in what Willow had said.

"It says that there are two main types that they have been known to serve" Willow explained, "but there is little information on either."

"One's some slime demon with a dodgy Latin name and one is a large and deadly demon called a rock demon that rarely rises above the surface. No one had ever faced one and come back alive so there is no proper description of it."

It was Faith that took up the story telling now as she had obviously decided Willow wasn't being quick enough in her explanation.

"The only way it has been dealt with before is to smoke it back lower underground but that wasn't in an open warehouse building" Faith continued.

"That's not much to go" Buffy stated, "Why is it so deadly?"

"No idea" Willow looked nervous, "maybe it's made of solid rock...let's just pray it's a slime monster we are dealing with!"

"Why would it be so close to the surface?" Chloe asked, "What does it want?"

"Probably to feed" Giles replied, "building collapse will draw in surveyors and construction workers for it to dine on...then it will return underground and hibernate probably."

"And no one has ever survived meeting one of them?" Chloe said nervously.

There was a long silence as everyone shifted around uncomfortably; it seemed that they would have to go into this upcoming battle fairly blind. That was not ideal but it was nothing new, Buffy had gone up against several foes that she knew little about, all very deadly.

"I think we need to go to bed and sleep on this" Giles spoke up, "we'll talk about it again in the morning."

"Agreed" Buffy could think of nothing else they could do right now, most of them were too worn down from researching all day and just needed rest.

Everyone piled out the room leaving Buffy stood in the doorway facing Willow and Faith who were still sat on the bed. Faith showed no sign of moving from Willow's room, she seemed perfectly settled there and the two were sat on the edge of the bed sharing worried looks with the other. It was time for Buffy to go and to leave them to their 'talking' if that's what they were actually doing.

"See you guys in the morning."

Both turned their attention to her and Willow forced a weak smile and waved. She looked downcast compared to how she had seemed earlier that day.

"Night B" Faith replied.

Buffy took her leave and shut Willow's bedroom door on the way out. Now she was actually thinking about going to bed she realised that she was actually quite tired. The last week had been mentally draining what with Faith's return and all the tension in the hotel. It was a chance to get a good night's rest for once and catch up on some sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 15**

Once Buffy had left the room Faith collapsed back onto the bed, leaving her legs dangling of the side of it. She felt emotionally drained by the books revelations but not completely down cast. No underground beast had ever faced two slayers before so the situation was not hopeless...just difficult. She was used to things being difficult.

"You okay?" Willow prodded her in the stomach, making her smile.

"My leg hurts" Faith admitted, "as does my head...apart from that I'm five by five!"

"Too much research gives you headaches" Willow agreed, "you get used to it."

Willow stood up and walked into the bathroom closing the door behind her. Faith presumed she was just going the lav so she stood up and stretched whilst Willow was gone. Her leg still hurt when she put weight on it but she could still use it just fine.

As she moved around the room she noticed the two photo's by the mirror again. She had considered them briefly the day before but now she suddenly felt like taking a closer look at the one of Willow and Tara. It was taken in the bronze, she recognised the old tatty speakers in the background. The two were wearing long skirts and flowing tops and had their arms around each other.

Tara was pretty in a plain kind of way. She wasn't what you'd call a typical beauty but she had something 'nice' about her features and something very warm about her. This was the person Willow was happy with; this was who she was still mourning even after a couple of years. Tara was special to Willow and nobody was going to replace her in Willow's heart were they? It seemed strange for Faith to be thinking about such things, she was certainly not a hopeless romantic and never had been. Perhaps she was reacting to the others obvious opinions about the nature of her and Willow's relationship...she could never replace Tara right? Couldn't they see that? No amount of checking Willow out or vice versa was going to change that.

"What are you looking at?" Willow had exited the bathroom and was staring at Faith from a couple of metres away.

"The photo" Faith admitted, "the one of you and Tara."

"Why?" Willow sounded as confused as Faith felt and the red haired witch plonked herself on the bed and lay down.

"I don't know" Faith admitted, "I guess I was just thinking how hard it must be for you to only have a couple of pictures of her and nothing else."

Faith then spotted something in the picture she hadn't noticed before. Tara was wearing a necklace with a green gem on it and Faith had seen that same piece of jewellery on Willow in the gym the day before.

"It's not the only thing" Faith said out loud, "you've got her necklace?"

"And a green jumper" Willow said softly, "I'd left them at the coven in England so they survived the destruction of Sunnydale unlike everything else."

"Including her grave" Faith considered Willow's words, it must have been horrible to lose so many links to the person you loved.

"Yes" Willow sounded very sad, "I never got to say goodbye...not that she'd hear me but the grave seemed like the only place I could get close to her."

Faith knew she was on dangerous ground now but she really wanted to know about Willow and Tara. It was dangerous ground because of how sad it would make Willow and dangerous ground because it would push the two even closer and they were already far closer than Faith knew how to handle.

She turned one of Willows lamps on so she could turn out the main light and then climbed onto Willows bed so she was lying down next to her but on her side so she was facing Willow. The red head looked thoughtful and her brow wrinkled in a really adorable way. They were definitely on dangerous ground if she was thinking things like that.

"Can I ask you two questions?" Faith thought it was best to give her a choice, "they may be quite emotional to answer because they are about Tara."

Willow turned towards Faith and thought about it for a few seconds, her brow wrinkling yet further.

"Only if you don't mind me crying" she finally replied, flashing Faith a gentle smile.

It was a good answer but Faith had already accepted she may have to deal with tears and wanted to ask anyway. For some reason it just felt important for Willow to talk about Tara so she could deal with her loss and important for Faith to understand it.

"I know she was shot but what happened?" Faith asked carefully, "did you get a chance to say goodbye?"

Willow rolled onto her back again and put her arms behind her head. Faith wondered if she was making a mistake by talking about Tara because Willow looked kind of crushed.

"No it was quick" Willow finally answered, "but that's good right? I mean if it has to happen then quick is good right?"

"I suppose so" Faith agreed.

"I mean it would be selfish to want her to suffer for longer so I could say goodbye to her" Willow continued.

"I think it's just human nature" Faith corrected, "nobody likes goodbyes but nobody wants to miss them either."

Willow was quiet and thoughtful for a minute and Faith just lay on her side watching the emotions play across Willow's face. The red head would speak when she was ready to and until then Faith was happy just to play the silent observer.

"She was shot in the back through the window. It was a through and through...straight through the heart. I was stood in front of her...well to the side slightly or I'd have been shot too and one second she was just stood there talking. Then bang...there was blood all over me and she just dropped and that was it. I tried to use magic to bring her back but it was a human death not a magical one like Buffy's so I couldn't. She was gone forever and I went snap."

Faith could feel her stomach clench like she was going to throw up. Listening to Willow describe what had happened was sickening, not just because it was horrible but also because Willow had been right there and witnessed it close up. No wonder the witch had snapped because it had all happened so fast and so unexpectedly.

"I'm sorry" Faith couldn't think of anything else to say, she wasn't exactly used to handling these kinds of situations. If Willow wasn't resting her head on her hands then Faith would have just gone with a quick squeeze of the hand instead.

"What was your second question?" Willow turned her head towards her and Faith could see tears forming in Willow's eyes. The red head wasn't quite crying but she wasn't far off.

"I was going to ask how the two of you got together" Faith admitted, "but if you're too upset..."

"We met in college" Willow cut in, "in some rubbish Wicca group were nobody actually did any magic!"

Obviously Willow was going to talk about it even if she was upset. In fact she almost seemed keen to talk about it, like she'd never had the chance before.

"Well actually we'd seen each other in Wicca group but we properly met when these Demons attacked the town and Tara came to find me to try doing some spells. She was smart and she'd realised I was a proper witch like her...not like the others. Anyway we didn't get a chance to do spells that time because we had to lock ourselves in the laundry room but after that we started meeting up to practise casting."

"So you were friends at first?" Faith was a little unsure about the timeline and where Oz fitted into the whole thing.

"Sort of but there was something between us the first time we properly met. Oz had left and I was alone and miserable, Buffy was always off with Riley and Xander had Anya so I had plenty of free time to spend with her. The first time any of them met her was when you body switched with Buffy, I kept her separate from them at first."

"But you were already going out together then" Faith pointed out, "I could tell."

"Yes, we'd just kind of progressed into it...there was no major event that got us together" Willow explained.

"When did you tell the others about it?" Faith was curious to see how long she'd hid it from them or how long it had took the others to notice.

"I had to tell Buffy about it when Oz came back" Willow replied, "I was so confused at first but then it all became clear...I chose Tara over Oz."

_That was very brave of her_ thought Faith, especially if she had been so weary about telling the others about Tara. Faith was all for being yourself and living your life how you wanted to but sometimes it was easier just to cave in and do what's easy rather than what is right.

"I guess in hindsight it would have been better for her if I had chose Oz" the tears were now pouring down Willow's face.

"She would have been no safer without you in Sunnydale Will" Faith pointed out, the girl could have just ended up as Vampire fodder or being turned.

"It's not just that...I let her down again and again and she never let me down once," Willow was fighting the tears back but they were still rolling down her cheeks and onto the bed.

Faith reached for Willows elbow and placed her hand on it without thinking through her actions. Once it was resting there she had no idea what to actually do with it and she had no idea what to say to make Willow feel better. Willow untangled the arm from behind her head and linked her hand with Faith's, intertwining their fingers. Faith gave their hands a nervous look, she'd almost got used to quick bits of physical contact with Willow but this was sustained contact.

In fact it was sustained contact that actually felt kind of pleasant which was more terrifying then unpleasant sustained contact. Willow's had felt warm and soft in her own and the girl was trailing her tip of her thumb against the base of Faith's. It was a kind of massaging feeling and it made the skin tingle and kind of made Faith tingle.

"I suck a bit don't I?" Faith faintly heard Willow's voice and the question but wasn't sure what she meant. She was too distracted by Willow's wandering thumb to think coherently about anything else.

"Faith?"

Hearing her name made her inwardly jump slightly. What was she doing getting so focused on holding hands with Willow? She must be going mad...the freedom or the Cleveland air was going to her head or something!

"What sorry?" Faith snapped her eyes away from their entwined hands and back to Willow's face. The red head had her face tilted towards her again and was giving faith a slightly bemused look.

"It's okay I was just doing some self deprivation" Willow assured her.

Faith could sympathise with that, she beat herself up emotionally a lot too. She gave Willow's hand a squeeze before snaking out of the girls grip and placing her hand by her side again were it was safe.

"Can I ask **you** one thing before sleep?" Willow turned on her side to face Faith.

"Erm...okay" Faith couldn't say no could she after asking Willow two really personal questions.

"Have you ever been in love?" Willow looked a little shy whilst asking.

"No!" That was easy; Faith had definitely never been in love or even came close to it.

"Had a boyfriend...or a girlfriend?" Willow looked a little surprised.

"That's two questions" Faith pointed out, "but no...I'm not good with affection and who'd want me?"

"I had a theory that you'd had your heart broken once" Willow admitted, blatantly ignoring Faith's question.

"Nope" Faith smiled, "just a miserable upbringing and a trip through the American foster system!"

She would never have admitted that to anyone else than Willow, her past was usually strictly off limits but as long as Willow didn't press she didn't mind.

"You were fostered?" Willow looked very intrigued now and Faith wondered if she could deflect the conversation away from herself again.

"Yeah for a year when I was fourteen" Faith replied, "But it's late and it's a long story."

Willow looked like she was considering pressing Faith for more information but then she suddenly relaxed back onto her back again.

"We should sleep" she agreed, "I think it's going to be a long one tomorrow,"

With some crazy dangerous underworld monster to slay Willow was right, it was going to be a long day and a busy one. Faith settled back against the bed too and realised they were both on top of the covers so she lifted herself up and pulled the cover from under her. Willow did the same and soon they were both nestled under the blanket together again but closer than they had been the night before. They were both in the middle of the bed almost shoulder tonight and Faith wondered if she should shift away. Willow didn't seem to be shifting away so Faith stayed still and tried to relax.

Willow was soon asleep leaving Faith lying there contemplating how crazy she was suddenly going. Was she actually attracted to Willow? Like properly attracted to her rather than just thinking she was decent eye candy. It was all too weird so Faith tried to focus on counting sheep...that was meant to make you fall asleep right?

Willow woke up of her own accord when bright sunlight started to pour through the window of her bedroom. It hadn't been a problem the morning before because she'd been in Faith's room in the basement but she'd obviously forgotten to shut the curtains last night.

As she was beginning to become more awake and more aware of her surroundings she realised that her head was pressed not against the pillow but against something a bit harder. She opened her eyes despite the bright sunlight to find Faith's face only a couple of inches away.

At some point in the night she had obviously turned on her side and cuddled into the still slumbering brunette slayer so that her head was now resting on her shoulder, just above Faith's chest. That wasn't all though, her hand was flung across Faith's rather nice feeling toned stomach and her bare legs were tangled with the sleeping slayers equally naked legs.

She wasn't sure whether to untangle herself now and undoubtedly wake Faith in the process or wait the ten minutes until the alarm was going to go off. It was a bit of an odd position for them to be in and if Faith woke up with Willow using her as a pillow then she would surely be uncomfortable and embarrassed by the cuddling. On the other hand Faith's shoulder was kind of comfortable and her legs were really smooth and warm.

Willow wondered why Faith had been so curious about her and Tara's relationship the night before. Willow had exited the bathroom to find Faith staring intensively at one of her photographs, the one from Tara's birthday party at the bronze. Whatever Faith's reasons were for asking about Tara, the chat had certainly made the two closer again. They had held hands and stuff which was kind of intimate...in fact this was kind of intimate now.

"Shit" Willow muttered out loud. What was she doing? She was lying there content to cuddle Faith whilst thinking about something involving Tara. This wasn't right, she had decided after Kennedy to just accept that she was Tara's girl and that was that. Her life expectancy on the hellmouth wasn't that long so being old and lonely wasn't going to be an issue. Why then was she so content to be cuddling up to the brunette slayer...could she really be falling hard for Faith?

Faith began to shift a bit underneath her but before Willow could pull away from her Faith's eyes opened and her head turned to look at her. She looked a bit shocked to see Willow that close to her but then she laughed.

"Shit what?" she muttered sleepily, "have we overslept?"

"No" Willow laughed, "shit I woke up cuddling you!"

"I noticed that" Faith admitted, "You happen to have your groin pressed into my stab wound red!"

"Shit" Willow swore again, rolling her upper body away from Faith so she was no longer pressing on her sore leg. Willows lower legs stayed tangled up in Faith's and the pair giggled.

"It's okay" Faith assured her, "it doesn't hurt much any more...slayer healing."

Willow knew slayers healed fast but she suspected Faith was underplaying the pain her leg was causing her still. Otherwise she probably wouldn't have mentioned the fact Willow was pressing against it.

Willow untangled her legs from Faith's and rolled away from her so she could turn off the alarm clock before it actually went off.

"I think people are up already" Faith had rolled of the bed and stood up. Willow couldn't hear anything but she'd take Faith and her superior hearings word for it.

"I'm going to see what's going on" the slayer continued, making her way to the door.

"Aren't you getting changed first?" Willow couldn't help stare at the expanse of leg Faith's shorts revealed and how well the shorts clung to her...

"Into what...I'm in your room?" Faith pointed out, "unless you want me to take them off?"

_Yes please _

"No!" Willow exclaimed, trying to ignore the thoughts that were popping into her head.

"Well then" Faith grinned broadly before heading out the door of Willow's room.

"Wait for me!" Willow called, grabbing dressing grown to cover herself up a bit more and charging after Faith. She didn't want to miss anything after all and it wasn't exactly a crime to wander round the hotel in you night wear.

She caught the slayer up in the hallway outside the lounge so she was right behind her when Faith entered the room. Everyone was sat around eating and this time it really was everyone. All of whom instantly looked up the two entered and stared at the pair like they had grown two heads. It took Willow a couple of seconds to realise why but then it dawned on her...they really did look more and more like a couple every passing day.

Most people looked away again pretty quickly, except for Andrew who looked like he'd been hypnotised by Faith's legs. Giles even cleared her throat to try and get his attention back to his breakfast but Andrew's eyes didn't even twitch away from Faith's legs.


	16. Chapter 16

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 16**

Buffy had got up early and was surprised to find that everyone bar Faith and Willow was up already and Chloe was trying to supply them all with breakfast. In the end Chloe sent them all to the lounge and ferried through plates of pancakes and muffins as they were made. Nobody was actually doing anything constructive and most people were just watching the TV. Buffy suspected that everyone was to on edge to sleep well last night and there seemed to be little research they could do now.

After about twenty minutes there was movement in the hallway which turned out to be Faith and Willow. The pair entering together was hardly a shock now but Buffy was surprised to see them both dressed for bed still. She was not the only one to look up at them, in fact, everyone did. Everyone looked away pretty quickly too, obviously not wanting to get caught staring. Everyone except Andrew that was who looked a bit like a dog on heat as he stared at Faith's legs.

"Morning" Willow greeted everyone shyly, obviously uncomfortable about being the focus of everyone's stares. Everyone said morning back apart from Andrew who had obviously been too distracted to hear her.

"Andrew stop eyeballing me or I'll poke them out!" It was a friendly threat from Faith rather than a malicious one. Andrew's eyes instantly snapped away from Faith and returned to his muffins.

"Although the eye patch thing is kind of cool" Faith added, "Xander kinda looks like a manly pirate with his!"

Andrew still didn't look too impressed and he shrunk into his seat a bit further causing a few sniggers from Dawn and Giles who were sat across from him on the table. Xander was on the sofa next to Buffy reading a paper and he briefly lifted his head to glance at Faith but his look didn't betray whatever he was feeling.

Faith seemed unperturbed by Andrews discomfort and she bounded over to the table and helped herself to some pancakes from the stacked plate Chloe had left there. She also picked up a muffin and returned to Willow, offering it to her. Willow looked a little surprised by the gesture but she accepted it and Buffy watched on as the two made their way to the spare sofa and sat down. Willow sat normally but Faith angled herself so that her back was leaning on the corner of the sofa and her legs were hanging over the edge by Willows. She looked totally relaxed and un-perplexed about whatever strange demon they were prepping to face. Buffy noticed that she was not the only one watching the pair, Xander was using his paper as cover but he was obviously glancing over it at their antics.

"As we are all here we need to decide what course of action we should take today" Giles had obviously waited for the two latecomers to settle before starting.

"Well before we do anything I need to go food shopping and I could do with help" Chloe cut in. She was always good at keeping things in perspective; it would be no good winning a battle and then starving!

"I'll come with you" Andrew offered, "its Giles turn in the shop."

"Good" Giles agreed, "I'm going to try and do some more research whilst there but I don't know if there is any information to find."

"I've got to go to college" Dawn huffed, "but I'll be back by two so I'll make sure the weapons are all sharpened and stuff for tonight."

"Brilliant, thank you Dawn" Giles responded. It always annoyed Dawn that she had to go to college and miss everything but she had turned into a good little worker over the last couple of years and always found a way to help. Buffy was exceptionally proud of her and she knew that if her mum could see them then she would be proud too.

"I thought the rest of us could go do a little recon at the industrial park?" Xander spoke up.

"We're not likely to get attacked during the day" Buffy agreed with his idea. There was no point them sitting round and researching if there wasn't likely to be any new information to find after all.

"Agreed" Giles looked pleased enough with the idea too.

"We can't just patrol around" Faith pointed out, "we'll look suspicious to the people working there!"

It was a good point and one that her and Xander had obviously missed. It was not a busy industrial estate but people worked there and there would be a steady flow of cars and customers throughout the day.

"What do you suggest?" Xander asked, clearly irritated that Faith had found such an obvious floor in his plan.

"We split into pairs" Faith explained, "you and Buffy take your car, pretend to be a couple who's just bought a house and move from warehouse to warehouse looking for DIY equipment and accessories."

"And what will you and Willow be getting up to whilst we are doing that?" Xander's tone was hostile again for the first time in twenty four hours. He had done well holding it in so far but he was obviously very uncomfortable with Faith and Willow getting so cosy. There was also a touch of the green eyed monster too as Faith had come up with a slightly better idea than him.

"Me and red will take her car to the auto repair shop next to the warehouse where the nest is and ask questions and pretend to be interested in buying it" Faith replied smugly.

"But my car doesn't need repairing!" Willow had spotted an obvious flaw in Faith's plan.

"Not yet but give me half an hour to get dressed and then I'll put one of the window's through," Faith replied with a broad smirk upon her face.

Buffy couldn't help but laugh at the horrified look on Willow's face; obviously Faith's plan was pretty flawless after all. Even Xander couldn't suppress a smile as everyone else in the room began to laugh too.

"Wonderful" Willow grumbled, "Just make sure you clear up all the glass!"

"Will do" Faith flashed Willow a cheeky smile and nudged Willows knee with her own. Buffy watched the interaction with intrigue, especially as Faith didn't shift her leg back again and kept her knee and lower leg in contact with Willows. Willow dipped her head and blushed slightly, a shy smile spreading across her face. The pair where flirting!

"Well that's settled then," Giles had obviously noticed the flirting too and he proceeded to clean his glasses like he always did when he was uncomfortable.

"So are you two going to pretend to be business partners or a couple?" Dawn directed her question and Willow and Faith.

"Or gay business partners" Faith smirked, "Willow does gay so well!"

Buffy was sure that Faith couldn't have missed Xander's glare although the brunette didn't react to it. The only thing she reacted too was Willow's ferocious blush which made Faith grin even broader at her own humour.

"Well...erm" Giles cut in, "I need to go to work and Dawn you need to go to college and..."

"We need to shop" Chloe directed her comment at Andrew who was sat watching Willow and Faith with interest.

"Right yes" Giles continued uncomfortably, "and you two need to put some clothes on...I mean...erm I'm going now!"

Chloe burst out laughing at Giles' discomfort but held her hand up apologetically at him. She had not been there that long and was not used to the nervous babbling Giles that came out to play every so often. He didn't seem too offended but it certainly kept him motivated to gather his things of the spare chair and escape to work as quickly as possible with Dawn in tow.

"Well" Faith stood up, "I'm going to put some clothes on like the watcher ordered!"

As much as she didn't want to laugh at Faith's humour Buffy found it irresistible when the other slayer was on this kind of form. It wasn't necessarily what Faith said but the way she said it and faces she pulled. Buffy may have been worried about the nature of Faith and her friends relationship but as of yet Faith had done nothing wrong to deserve any anger towards her. Buffy could understand Xander not being willing to let the past go and trust Faith though, it had taken her long enough to when Faith arrived in Sunnydale with Willow the first time round.

Willow watched Faith leave a little too closely before getting up herself and taking her leave from the room. Once she had gone Xander chucked the paper he had been hiding behind on the floor and turned to glare at Buffy.

"I don't like this at all!" he declared.

"Which bit in particular?" Buffy knew he was ready to explode again and she was going to get an earful. Obviously Chloe and Andrew had realise so too and the pair where already heading off to the kitchen with the empty breakfast plates in hand.

"Those two!" he shouted, "with the bed sharing and the flaunting and the flirting...did I mention the flirting?"

"They were flirting" Buffy agreed, "and flaunting lots of leg...and bed sharing!"

Xander made a frustrated little noise and waved his arms around in a hand gesture Buffy didn't fully understand. She roughly interpreted it as 'what the hell' and waited for him to calm it with angry arms. Once he dropped them back to his side and looked a little calmer she tried talking to him again.

"I think Willow was being honest though yesterday" she admitted, "I don't think they are in an actual relationship or anything yet."

"Yet" Xander repeated, "Yet is the problem!"

"What can we do?" Buffy pointed out; there really was nothing to be done about it without seriously pissing Willow off.

"Nothing" Xander admitted, "nothing but wait and hope Faith is going to stay on our side this time I suppose."

"Exactly!"

They had to try and have faith in Faith and trust in the fact that she truly had reformed. It was something Buffy would find easier to do if one of her friends wasn't getting herself so emotionally involved in the situation. Trusting Faith would be a lot easier if no one was guaranteed to get hurt and Willow's blushing smiles and longing stares hinted that she would be pretty hurt if Faith turned on them.

It had taken Faith fifteen minutes alone to change her bandage and clean her leg up again. The wound was healing nicely and it was definitely not infected but it still stung quite a bit. Willow sleeping on it half the night couldn't have helped the stinging of course but it hadn't set her healing back at all. The position she had woke up in that morning probably required some sought of analysis considering her inward revelation the night before. The issue of her being attracted to the red headed beauty would have to wait for now though as there was more pressing matters at hand.

She got dressed quickly, throwing on a pair of her new jeans with a white vest top and her denim jacket. She then tossed some make up on and tried to make her hair look presentable so she could pass herself of as a casual business woman if she needed too. Then she hunted around the gym for something to break a car window with and some tarpaulin to prevent the glass going everywhere.

She found an old baseball bat that looked slightly worse for wear which would be perfect for the job. She eventually found the tarpaulin which was meant to cover the gym horse when it wasn't in use and some silver gaffer tape that Giles obviously used to patch things in the gym up with after Buffy destroyed them.

Once she'd found the tools she needed she headed up to Willow's room to get her car keys off her. She didn't want the alarm to go off and alert everyone in the next two blocks that she was smashing a car window in. At least if anyone came to see what the noise of glass smashing was then she could lie and say somebody had done it in the night and she was just knocking the rest of the glass out.

She didn't even bother knocking when she reached Willow's room which was quite rude of her really but she was so hyped about carrying out her plan that she didn't think about it until it was too late. She didn't swing the door wide open or anything; she just let herself in and let the door swing behind her. She felt a bit guilty though when Willow jumped in shock and covered her bra clad upper body by folding her arms. Luckily she already had her jeans on although they were not fastened or anything yet. They revealed a glimpse of emerald green underwear that matched the cute little bra she was trying to cover up. Obviously Willow did things in a different order to Faith because Faith put clothes on first and then applied make up and did her hair. Willow's hair was straightened and she had applied eyeliner but she certainly wasn't fully dressed yet.

Faith may have got an eyeful the night before when Willow was wearing only a towel but this was the first time she'd got a look at her figure properly and it was a pretty good one. Willow looked like she was going to chastise Faith for entering without knocking but then the red heads eyes focused in on the load Faith was carrying.

"That's not really my kind of thing!" Willow had a mixture of amusement and confusion in her voice.

"Mine neither" Faith couldn't help but smirk, "well the baseball bat and tarpaulin isn't anyway but if you want to tape me to the bed then be my guest!"

_Too far Faith_ she thought to herself _that is surely too far_. Luckily Willow didn't take offence and instead she started laughing.

"Maybe later slayer" she quipped, "I remember something about you getting juiced after a good fight!"

Okay Willow could certainly give as good she got when it came to over the top flirting but now she'd left Faith with the mental image of Willow taped to the bed wearing exactly what she had on now. It took Faith a few seconds to remember why she'd actually come to Willow's room, it wasn't to ogle at the red head girl was it?

"Keys!" Faith suddenly remembered, "I need your car keys!"

"Ah" Willow replied, "so you can smash my window in?"

Willow had to remove her hands from in front of her so she could open the top drawer of her dresser and find the keys. Faith allowed herself a few sneaky peaks at her as she did so but made sure she was looking at Willow's face when she turned around again. The red head obviously considered tossing her the keys but Faith's hands were full. So Willow approached her and placed them in the hand that only held the tape already. Her hand didn't move instantly and as it lingered against Faith's the red head looked up and into her eyes.

For a brief second Faith though that Willow may lean in and kiss her, especially as Willow's eyes dropped to her lips. Then however they were interrupted by noise in the corridor outside the room and they both pulled back from one another.

"I'll go sort the car" it was all she could think to say before bolting out the room.

The noise in the corridor had come from Chloe who had gone to get a coat from her room before heading off to the shops. Faith walked to the small car park area outside the hotel with her and Andrew before the two headed off in Giles' silver jeep to the supermarket.

She unlocked Willows car and opened the back door behind the driver's seat. This was the side of the car that you couldn't see from the road so that if anyone did drive by they wouldn't notice her. She tapped the tarpaulin around the inside rim of the window so that it was loose rather than taught. The plan was that it would act like a giant bucket and catch all the glass in it, preventing any sharp shards spreading around the car. Once it was taped in place she closed the door and used the thicker end of the baseball bat to poke through the window. It didn't take much effort for a slayer to break a bit of glass and it was done neatly and quickly. She opened the door again and untapped the blue tarpaulin from the top so that she could keep the glass wrapped in it.

Her plan had worked and no glass had ended up on the seat, it would look like they had already vacuumed it up to the auto repair people. She tossed the glass into a bin outside the hotel that had the word 'sharps' on it and returned to the car to tape the tarpaulin back onto the missing window to discourage anyone trying to steal the car whilst she went back inside the hotel.

The other three where waiting in the lounge when she re-entered the hotel. Buffy and Xander were watching cartoons on the TV and Willow was sat at the table reading through the book Faith had been researching with. None of them had noticed her entrance as of yet.

"I'm ready if you guys are" she called, making them all look up suddenly.

All three stood up and put their coats on so she headed back to the passenger side of Willow's old Ford to wait for them. Xander's car wasn't much better to be fair, it was late nineties black Ford Mondeo which made it about ten years younger than Willow's Taurus.

Xander and Buffy went straight to his car and got in, not bothering to say goodbye to her. Willow approached her car and gave it an apologetic look when she saw the missing window.

"As if it didn't look battered enough anyway" she said, giving the car a comforting pat on the roof like it was a pet dog.

"It will have a nice new shiny window soon to cheer it up!" Faith joked, copying Willow and giving the car a pat.

Faith tossed Willow the keys over the car and the pair climbed in. Willow had to adjust her seat because Faith had been the last person to drive it and Faith tended to sit quite close to the wheel like you would in a racing car.

"You better do most of the talking" Willow commanded as she started the car up, "I'm a rubbish liar!"

"Deal" Faith grinned, "you just provide the eye candy!"

"I doubt I'm a mechanics type" Willow replied innocently as she backed out her parking space.

"I wasn't talking about them" Faith flirted, "they can find their own eye candy!"

Willow's colouring went from porcelain to bright red and Faith couldn't help but smirk at the effect she'd had on the girl. This time Willow didn't seem to have a response to Faith's flirting and just focused on driving instead.


	17. Chapter 17

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 17**

Willow was trying very hard not to look at Faith on the short drive to the industrial estate in fear of being distracted. She was also excessively embarrassed by the bright shade of crimson she'd turned due to Faith's compliment. She had seen herself in the rear view mirror and blushed even more at the way her face was glowing.

Faith seemed quite content to stare out the window until they reached the industrial estate. Then she began to direct Willow towards the warehouse with the foundation problem and the facing auto repair garage.

"Left here and there it is!" Faith declared as they turned into the far corner of the estate. There before them was a large warehouse with a high fence surrounding it that had 'keep out' signs all over it.

Willow pulled into the small shop space across the way and killed the engine of the car. It had suddenly dawned on her that Faith had run from this distance back to the hotel with her leg bleeding all over the place. It must have been incredibly painful and Faith had really underplayed it when she arrived back at the hotel.

"What's wrong?" Faith's question made Willow turn in her seat to look at the slayer. The brunette was sat very still but was looking at her intently with a strange look across her face.

"It's far away from the hotel" Willow said softly, "a long run."

Faith looked down at her own leg were she had been stabbed before looking back into Willow's eyes. They had had a moment like this earlier on when Willow thought that they may kiss, when both had seemed to lean in towards each other before being distracted. Faith's face seemed to be getting closer although Willow wasn't entirely sure who was doing the moving.

Then, just as Faith's eyes darted down to Willow's lips and she looked like she may close the distance between them completely, there was a bang on the top of the car. Willow jumped and turned to find one of the mechanics from the garage stood by the driver door. For a brief second she considered getting out and cursing him but then remembered that they were here for a purpose. A purpose that was slightly more important than the two of them getting all mushy on each other in the front of her car.

"Hey" Willow greeted after winding her window down, "can you fix my back window please?"

"Sure" the mechanic drawled in response, giving the two of them the once over with his eyes as he leaned in through the window.

"How long will it take?" Faith's voice was hard; she was obviously unimpressed by his mannerisms towards them. The mechanic took the hint and pulled back out the window so he was no longer in Willow's personal space.

"Bout forty five minutes" he replied, "maybe an hour."

"Great" Faith responded, "We'll just go for a walk or something."

Faith climbed out the car and walked round to the driver side, opening the door so Willow could climb out. Willow was grateful for her actions because she had been weary of having to get out so close to the lecherous looking mechanic alone.

Once she was out Willow tossed the man her keys so he could move the car inside the garage and followed Faith who headed off towards the security fence of the warehouse. Once they had reached the fence Willow realised what Faith was looking for, there was a small gap in the fence that had been cut away by something sharp.

"There are gaps like that in the graveyard fence" Faith explained, "little doors for vicious little fuckers to come and go through!"

Willow didn't comment and silently began to walk around the fencing towards the gate which was about thirty yards away. Once she reached the gate she saw the sign that Faith had obviously spotted the night before. Then her eyes were drawn down the road in the direction they had drove in from, there was a small splattering of blood on the floor that she hadn't spotted from the car.

"Looks like you left your mark" Willow pointed to the blood when Faith caught her up at the gate.

"Vicious little fuckers!" Faith repeated her earlier insult again this time more vehemently.

Willow stifled a giggle at Faith's ire and turned her attention back to the signpost on the gate. There was a phone number on there for information about the site and Willow wondered if they would learn anything useful from ringing that.

"I'm going to save that number onto my phone and get Xander to ring it later," Willow informed Faith who was by her side again.

"Good idea" Faith agreed, "he may actually understand what they are going on about!"

"Yeah, construction isn't my forte" Willow agreed ,"unless it's constructing databases!"

Faith raised her eyebrows in response but obviously understood what Willow meant. Obviously she'd learnt about databases in those IT classes they forced upon her in prison.

"Shall we go for a walk around the perimeter of the fence like we are giving it the once over?" Faith asked, "Then we can go ask that slimy mechanic some questions."

"I can't wait!" it wasn't the walk Willow was dreading but the talking with the slime ball man who was now poking and prodding in her car.

Faith regretted her decision to walk the perimeter as soon as they reached one of the back corners of the building. The tarmac ran out here as the warehouse backed onto a small wooded area in between the industrial estate and a housing estate next door. This meant that they had to walk across a small bank of grass next to the security fencing or climb down into the woodland. Both options left them slightly vulnerable to attack but Faith was fairly confident that the little blue creatures didn't come out in the day because their eyes and skin wouldn't be able to handle the sunlight.

To keep the risk of Willow getting hurt to a minimum she kept the girl close to her, letting the girl walk in front so she was controlling the pace across the uneven footing. This concern was partly due to fear of how the others would react if Willow got injured whilst with her but it ran deeper than that. Faith was coming to accept that she had feelings for Willow even if she didn't know how to compartmentalise them yet. In the past the only feelings she'd harboured towards anyone was the desire to screw them and then kick them out of wherever she happened to be staying. This thing with Willow was totally different, she liked Willow a lot and wanted to be near her all the time, she'd even slept in the same bed as her. It wasn't all hearts and flowers of course because she was most definitely physically attracted to Willow as well.

As they reached the end of the bank and Faith's feet finally hit tarmac again Willow suddenly came to a crashing halt in front of her, causing Faith to slam into the back of her. Willow started to fall forwards but Faith reached out and wrapped her arms around Willow's waist, pulling her back upright so that that the red heads back was pressed against her front. It also left them cheek to cheek as Faith had her chin rested on Willow's shoulder.

"You need brake lights!" Faith was surprised how low and husky her voice came out.

"Sorry" Willow's voice sounded raspy too, "I saw something move in the window up there in the warehouse."

Faith looked in the direction Willow was pointing but didn't bother releasing her from her grasp. There was a window that once probably allowed natural light into an office but now had a large grill over it. Faith strained to see through the grill but she couldn't see anything or any movement.

"Honestly something **was** there!" Willow obviously couldn't see anything either now.

"I believe you" Faith comforted her, "it wouldn't surprise me if we are being watched."

Willow seemed silenced by this and she continued to stare at the window. Faith on the other hand found her interest was more pleasantly piqued by the warm girl she had wrapped in her arms. She smelt nice, like strawberry shampoo and a pleasant floral perfume. She'd vaguely noticed it when they had been sharing a bed but she had never had her nose this close to Willow's neck before.

There was very quick movement again at the window which Faith saw out the corner of her eye. It made Willow jump again and she grasped one of Faith's arms which encircled her waist and her other hand reached back and tangled in Faith's hair.

"Its okay" Faith assured her, "let's go back to the car and see where he's up too with that window."

"Right...yes" Willow agreed, "are we going to try and walk like this?"

Faith was briefly confused until she remembered that she still had the red head crushed against her. She didn't really want to let her go, in fact she felt quite horny but that was probably not appropriate right now. She moved her arms back to her side which released Willow from her grasp but Willow let her hand linger in Faith's hair for a few seconds longer before removing it. It was definitely time for Faith to concentrate on the task at hand, not the pretty girl at hand, so she began to follow the perimeter fence again.

Willow kept pace behind her and Faith could swear she could feel the heat of the girls' eyes on her back. It would be so easy now just to turn around and capture her lips but it would be a crazy thing to do considering Faith wasn't really sure what she was feeling yet. Again she tried to focus her mind back to the task at hand, an aim that was made easier when the auto repair shop came back into view.

Once they had reached the garage Faith found that there where in fact two mechanics. The one they had spoken too was busy setting the glass in the window whilst the other was sat at a grotty old table drinking coffee and reading a local newspaper. She decided to speak to him and leave the other mechanic working on the car so they could be out of there quicker.

"Hey" she greeted the seated man, "do you know what's wrong with that building?"

The man looked up from his paper and placed his drink down on the table. His hands and face had black oil smears on and his hair was an untidy tangle of grey but he seemed pleasant enough.

"Foundations under the ground level are collapsing" he stated, "or so I'm told."

"Is it fixable or does it need flattening?" Faith asked as Willow came to stand next to her.

"Wouldn't know but I think the company is going to rip it down and start again" the mechanic replied before taking a long sip from his coffee.

"Why so interested?" the other, more leery mechanic, asked from behind them.

Faith really didn't like the way he spoke or looked at them and she was glad she had her back to him now or she'd have probably hit him.

"We're looking for a warehouse for our internet business" Faith lied, but it sounded really convincing. It was convincing enough that neither man seemed to doubt her at all and both continued with what they were doing.

"I don't think it's for sale love" the seated mechanic spoke again, "but there is a smaller space like this available round the corner."

"We're more interested in something as big as that warehouse" Faith really wasn't interested in knowing about anywhere else and deflected the conversation back to where she wanted it.

The other mechanic waltzed over to the table and put some sort of sealant gun down on the table next to the coffee, he obviously didn't like being left out of the conversation.

"What do you sell?" he quizzed, running his eyes down Willow's body and making the red head shift uncomfortably. Faith hadn't planned an answer to this type of question but she had a good one anyway.

"Sex toys!"

Well that silenced them, neither man knew whether to look interested or embarrassed so instead they just looked dumbstruck. Willow looked a bit shocked too but the red head contained her surprise really well considering it would have been so unexpected to her.

"Vibrators and sexy outfits and lots of bondage items!" Faith added, "we loooooove kinky sex!"

Now the leery mechanic looked really uncomfortable and he was soon scampering back to the car and out of view again. Willow was stood at Faith's side with a silly smirk across her face; obviously she saw the humour in Faith's answer too and was trying very hard to laugh.

"Wow!" the seated mechanic exclaimed, "you'd make better neighbours than the plastic packaging company that owns it now!"

_Plastic packaging, so that's what the building had stored_. Faith wondered if that could have anything to do with why the burrowers had chosen that warehouse on the site or if it was just pot look. Maybe they had chosen it for its location at the edge of the site...or maybe it just had weak foundation.

"Plastic packaging?" Willow spoke up, "I'd have expected them to be storing something more substantial if it's caused foundation failure!"

"Aye" the seated mechanic agreed, "must have been built badly."

"Or they're storing something else in there" Willow said conspiratorially, "not seen anything weird have you?"

Willow was cleverly trying to find out if there had been any strange activity at the warehouse and Faith had to commend her efforts. Her silly and gossipy tone was not remotely suspicious, especially to two guys who obviously liked the idea of the 'little woman'.

"Hah" the leery mechanic laughed, "I'm afraid not...just been some kids hanging round in the night since it's been closed...keep cutting holes in the damn fence!"

"When was it closed?" suddenly Faith realised that they were missing vitally important information. How long the burrower had's been digging through the warehouses foundations.

"They called the inspectors in about a week and a half ago" the seated dude explained, "and it closed about two days after..."

"Your cars ready" the leery mechanic cut in, "that will be $120."

Faith couldn't think of anything else to ask without making the two suspicious so she gestured for Willow to follow her and the mechanic to the till so they could pay. She watched on as Willow used the credit card from the Watcher's Council pay, it was a business cost after all, and once they were done Faith was glad to clamber back into the car and get out of there.

As they drove through the industrial estate the pair kept an eye out for Buffy and Xander but couldn't see them. At the exit of the estate Faith had expected Willow to turn left towards the hotel but instead she turned right.

"Where are we going?" Faith was confused; this wasn't the way back to the hotel unless Willow knew another way back.

"There is a small cafe down here that does good food and coffees" Willow admitted, "I often come down here to escape the others for a bit!"

"You're taking me for lunch?" Faith couldn't help smirking, "that's...nice."

She was tempted to say romantic or sweet but then she decided that there were only so many times in a day she should make Willow blush.

"That's trust" Willow corrected her, "none of the others know about this place."

_Wow _thought Faith, Willow was taking her to one of her sanctuaries and that perhaps said more than a thousand words or longing stares could. Willow was letting her in completely, a fact that was terrifying and terribly moving all in one strange emotional pang in Faith's stomach. She had to be careful and not rush it physically so that it was far too fast for her emotionally. She didn't want to hurt Willow after all and she didn't want to be hurt either.


	18. Chapter 18

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 18**

Willow wasn't really sure what had possessed her to take Faith to the little cafe she often frequented but it had suddenly seemed important to her. They may have ate with the others at every mealtime since Faith had arrived in Cleveland but they had had plenty of privacy as well, it wasn't like Willow had to sneak Faith of to have time alone with her. It just seemed different somehow, to actively seek privacy rather than just being granted it by the others.

Was she taking Faith to the cafe so they could talk intimately? Was she ready to talk intimately? Would she ever be ready to get intimate with Faith? There were so many questions that she couldn't find answers to from within no matter how hard she racked her brain. Was she merely just glad to have someone to share her little cafe lunch with for once rather than being the loner that the staff probably thought she was normally.

Once inside the cafe Willow guided Faith to the booth in the corner she usually occupied and sat opposite the slayer. That would help avoid any temptation to plant a kiss on the girl that may arise if she was next to her. The brunette was looking around with a great amount of intrigue on her face and Willow wondered what the slayer was so interested in. The place looked like a bit of a dump and usually attracted passing Lorry drivers or some more human looking local demons. Willow wasn't socialising with the hellmouth's worst or anything; most of the demon's kept themselves to themselves and were pretty harmless. Willow only really frequented the place because it was quiet and the food was actually surprisingly good.

"The steak baguette is good" Willow advised Faith, "you'd probably like the meatball one too."

Faith didn't get a chance to reply because one of the staff members, Leona, who was often there during the day came scuttling over to them.

"Hey Will" she greeted, "you got company today! What can I get you?"

"This is Faith, Faith this is Leona" she introduced them, "can I have the steak and onion baguette please and a latte?"

"I'll have the same" Faith seemed a little weirded out by the waitresses intense gaze. Obviously Leona was intrigued by Faith and probably fancied her because Leona was blatantly gay. Not that she looked gay or something, she just acted it and came onto the pretty clientele a lot. She wasn't a bad looking girl at all, she was medium build with curly dark blonde hair and obviously managed to pull a few of the customers but Willow had never been tempted.

"Be about ten minutes" Leona chirped before scuttling of to get the coffees.

"Willow this place has some vengeance demon or something sat over by the counter" Faith sounded concerned. She was obviously wondering why Willow frequented a demon friendly place considering the gang's job was to kill demons and protect people.

"You get the odd demon" Willow tried to explain, "I've never seen one causing trouble though so I don't bother them."

Faith seemed to accept the answer but gave the demon another cautious glance before turning her attention back to Willow again.

"What is your favourite colour?" it was an odd question for Faith to ask but Willow decided to go with the flow of things.

"Gold or violet" Willow replied, "why?"

"I read this psychology book in prison about what colours show about personality" Faith explained, "I was just curious!"

Willow still couldn't get used to the idea of Faith reading books full stop but the idea of Faith being interested in a psychology book was uber odd to hear.

"What do my colours say about me?" Willow wasn't sure she wanted to know but she was curious to know how much information Faith had retained from the book.

"Gold is a sign or warmth and intelligence but also of an addictive personality" Faith spoke cautiously, "violet has something to do with spirituality and healing but also with escapism."

"Well that sounds about right" Willow conceded nervously "An intelligent, spiritual fuck up...that's me!"

It all fitted rather well indeed, she was intelligent and she had and still did love the spiritual aspect of Wicca but she had definitely used magic in an escapist manner and had become addicted to it. Obviously there was more in some of this psychobabble than automatically meets the eye.

"What are you favourite colours?" Willow was curious to know what Faith's colours said about her.

"I like red which means determination, energy, risk-taker and something about sexual energy" Faith grinned, "and black which is meant to be something about strength and potential."

"Wow" Willow couldn't help but grin too, "no wonder my irritating parents swear by all this psychology crap!"

Faith looked very thoughtful suddenly and she began to tap her fingernails against the table as she stared at Willow intently. Willow wondered what the hell she had said that made Faith zone in on her so much but whatever it was she suddenly wished she could take it back.

"Your parent's were away a lot" Faith stated, "I remember Buffy telling me that one night on patrol in Sunnydale."

"Yeah, they liked travelling a lot" Willow agreed, not sure if she really wanted the parent conversation here.

"I never knew my dad" Faith announced, "he left my mum when he realised she was knocked up!"

_Whoa_! Faith was randomly revealing bits of her past which really got Willow's attention. Faith had seemed so reluctant to even mention her family on Tuesday that this was like a bomb dropping.

"Have you never tried to find him?" Willow was so curious that she had to try and contain her eagerness in fear of scaring Faith back into her normal hole.

"No, he obviously didn't want me so fuck him" Faith said surprisingly calmly, "I thought about it once when my mum got sick and died but I had my watcher so it was okay."

"Then she was killed" It wasn't a question; Willow was just remembering that part of the story from when Faith arrived in Sunnydale.

"Yeah" Faith sounded sad, "I felt like I'd failed my mum because we couldn't afford treatment and I felt like I'd failed my watcher because I couldn't protect her...I've always been the crapper one of the two slayers."

"Buffy couldn't protect everyone either" Willow felt her eyes prickle as the words poured out of her mouth. Many had fallen by the wayside...Miss Calendar, Anya...Tara.

"I'm sorry" She had obviously seen Willow's reaction and Faith's hand had shot out across the table and grasped hers immediately.

"It doesn't matter" Willow brushed her apology aside and retracted her had away from Faith's, suddenly unable to be cosy with Faith with thoughts of Tara swimming around her head even though they had talked about her before.

If Faith was hurt or stung by the obvious rejection of her attempted comfort then she didn't get a chance to say anything about it because Leona's re-appeared with the food and lattes. The chirpy waitress obviously realised there was tension though because she just handed out the stuff and got out the way again.

Faith didn't stand on ceremony and began to feast on her baguette but Willow could sense that the slayer was subtly trying to watch her though. This made her feel incredibly guilty about her reaction to Faith's offered comfort, she had only just got Faith comfortable around her and now she had probably just ruined it. After several minutes of nibbling at her baguette and contemplating what to say to Faith to make it all better she was distracted by her cell phone ringing. It was Buffy, probably calling to find out where the hell they were.

"Buffy?" she answered the phone.

"Where are you?" _how predictable_.

"Having lunch" Willow replied, "we won't be long"

"I'm sorry to cut in on your Faith love in Will but we need to discuss what we are doing tonight and get organised" Buffy's tone was pleasant but her wording gave away her irritation.

It was kind of ironic that Buffy thought they were having a 'love in' though considering in reality Willow seemed to be having a bit of a 'screw up'.

"You'll have to wait till we've finished our food" Willow kept it all calm, "we'll only be about twenty minutes!"

Buffy was suddenly gone and the phone went dead..._so much for saying goodbye_ Willow thought. When she turned back to Faith she found that Faith was looking at her with a strange mixture of mirth and worry on her face.

"What?" Willow could understand the worry but she couldn't see what would be making Faith smile right now.

"What 'love in' did Buffy thing she was interrupting?" Faith asked, "Did she think we'd pulled up in a quiet corner somewhere and tested your suspension?"

Obviously Faith had recovered from Willow's earlier rejection, perhaps she'd just thought Willow was trying not to cry or something. Whatever Faith thought she wasn't angry and that was a good thing.

"Probably" Willow admitted, "although I did say we were at lunch."

It seemed like a fairly normal innocent thing to say until Willow saw a dirty smile spread across Faith's face that the brunette slayer clearly couldn't contain.

"Faith!" Willow chastised her, "get your mind out the gutter and finish your baguette!"

"Yes ma'am" Faith was still smirking like crazy even when she began to finish her food of at speed.

Faith had driven the two of them back to the hotel because Willow had taken out the rest of her baguette and was eating it on route. Faith had been amused by the phone conversation she had overheard between the witch and the blond slayer but Willow just seemed a little flustered. Obviously now that she had been hassled about not returning to base straight away she felt like she had been a little irresponsible or something.

Faith didn't share any concern like that with Willow, it was obvious that there was no more research to be done and they were going to have to go into this battle blind. Apart from trying to ascertain the layout of the warehouse there was little more to plan.

On arrival at the hotel they had found Buffy, Xander and Chloe waiting for them in the lounge. All of whom seemed to be deep in discussion about something until her and Willow walked in. She didn't want to be suspicious but usually when somebody stops talking because you appear it means that you were the topic of discussion.

"Hey!" Willow broke the silence that had set upon the room the second they had entered.

"We didn't find much" Willow continued, "the foundations started to collapse a week and a half ago, the warehouse stores plastics and we have a number for Xander to ring."

"Why Xander?" Faith marvelled at how thick Buffy could be sometimes.

"He works in construction" Willow said slowly, obviously even she was surprised by how slow Buffy could be at linking things together. Faith was sure that she had never come across that thick in the past, just disinterested and rebellious.

"Oh yeah" the penny dropped, "what type of plastics did the warehouse store?"

"Packaging" Faith was bored of watching the conversation and decided to join in and move things along a bit. She couldn't be bothered standing round forever because she wanted to go and train for a bit in the basement gym.

"Is that relevant?" it was a good question; although Buffy was obviously worried she was being thick and missing the obvious again.

"I don't know" Faith admitted, "nesting material? Energy source? Complete coincidence? We should run it past Giles later."

Willow had been routing around in her pocket for her phone whilst this conversation was going on and suddenly gave a little squeak when she located it.

"What do you want me to find out?" Xander asked as he took the phone of Willow, actually directing his question at her and not Buffy.

"Act like you are ringing for a possible buyer who wants to know if the foundation collapse is so dangerous that the building needs ripping down and starting again...perhaps even try and get an idea of the basic plan of the place as well if you can."

Xander nodded in response and left the room with Willow's phone, obviously looking for somewhere quiet to ring from. That left the four girls in the lounge to discuss Buffy and Xander's trip to the Industrial Estate. Not that there was much to discuss, a few people had moaned about teenagers wrecking fences and one lady in the furniture shop had told them she had seen something strange entering the Industrial Estate as she had driven past one night.

Dawn returned from college just as Xander reappeared after his fairly lengthy phone call. In his hand he had a piece of paper and a rough pen sketch of the buildings layout. There were two separate sketches, one of the ground floor and one of the basements.

"It's hard to tell from a verbal description but I think that is the basic layout" Xander explained, "the wall with the crosses on is the area of foundation failure."

Faith poured over the piece of paper with Buffy, the foundation failure was in the large storage space in the basement which meant that there was plenty of room for the little blue burrowers to have created a nest. It meant though that they would have to venture slightly underground to deal with the nest and there was only two ways out the building, and they of course where on the floor above.

"Is the building safe?" Willow asked Xander, "it's not going to collapse on us is it?"

"No, the damage isn't too bad" Xander reassured her, "there is just very little price difference between repairing and rebuilding so the company has chosen to rebuild and modernise it."

That was a good thing but it didn't help with the problem Faith was now worrying over. They had no idea how many creatures they had to deal with, they could easily be surrounded and penned in underground. Not to mention the fact they had deal with some kind of large and dangerous demon at the same time.

"Maybe this is one for just me and you B," Faith knew the idea wouldn't be popular but she was becoming increasingly worried about taking the others into that kind of situation. Those creatures moved fast, it was even hard for a slayer to keep up so the others could be at real risk.

As she expected, Willow and Xander both looked ready to protest but it was Dawn who spoke up first and for the first time since she'd arrived.

"We all go together" Buffy's younger sister stated, "We're a team."

"I know" Faith sighed, she had expected that kind of reaction but it was worth a try. Even if Buffy tried to say no they would still come, it was a pointless argument.

"Good" Dawn replied, "I'm going to sort out some weapons."

With that Dawn left to head down to the basement and Chloe followed her. Faith wasn't sure if Chloe was going to help or just check that Dawn wasn't too pissed off with her suggestion. The likes of Xander and Dawn never seemed to understand how hard it was for a slayer to concentrate on fighting bad guys when they were also worrying about somebody else's safety.

"I think I'm going to head down to the shop and fill Giles and Andrew in" Xander stated, "I'll see if he thinks the plastic packaging is related or not."

"Thanks" Buffy was the only one who replied and Faith just watched him pick up his coat and keys and leave. She had obviously rattled some cages in her attempts to keep them safe because even Willow seemed quiet.

"I'm not trying to be a bitch" she pointed out to Buffy after he had left; "we are going to run the risk of being cornered in that basement!"

"I know" Buffy agreed softly, obviously she was concerned too but was used to not having a choice in the matter.

"I can't ask them to do the leg work and then refuse to let them join in Faith..." Buffy started to explain but Faith cut her off. She already understood but it was hard to take somebody you cared about into danger with you. She had never been in that situation before, she'd never felt like that about anyone before but suddenly Willow's safety seemed paramount.

"I know" Faith assured her, "it doesn't make it any the less dangerous though."

She wasn't going to stand round and argue about it so she just walked away and headed down to the basement and the gym. She knew it probably seemed like she was storming off, she wasn't angry though; she just wanted to avoid confrontation so she didn't get angry. Any frustration she felt would easily be worked away in the gym if she beat the crap out of the punch bag.


	19. Chapter 19

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 19**

Willow felt very awkward after Faith walked out but she resisted the urge to follow her straight away. She suspected that Faith needed some time to cool off slightly and she had an odd urge to stay and defend her to Buffy.

"I'm not having a go!" Buffy said defensively, "I just know there is no stopping you!"

"I know and she knows that too" Willow agreed, "she's just not used to having to worry about other people."

It was an odd sensation but Willow knew she was the main cause of Faith's anguish. They had no idea of what they could face in the basement of that building and Faith was terrified that she could get hurt or worse. This seemed to be the level they were at now, emotionally they were in some sort of relationship even if physically they were not. There could be no denying that Faith was attracted to her, she could see it in the brunette's eyes and mannerisms, how attracted Willow was not sure but they were obviously in deep. Uncomfortably deep in fact, considering Willow had no idea whether she was truly capable of giving herself to a relationship anymore.

"I know, I remember what it was like to fight alongside your partner..." Buffy was obviously trying to be diplomatic but she had made an error.

"We're not dating" Willow stated, hating herself for saying it the second it came out of her mouth. She should have just let Buffy make her speech rather than actively pushing Faith away from her again, even if the pretty brunette wasn't there to hear it.

"Oh...right" Buffy stammered, "I just thought...well you...never mind!"

"Oh Buffy I don't know what we are doing yet" Willow blurted, "It's a bit up in the air at the moment."

Buffy looked a bit surprised by the outburst but didn't pass comment. The blond slayer was obviously trying to figure out what exactly Willow meant by that before putting her foot in her mouth.

"I'm going to go check she's okay," Willow decided it was time to escape this conversation. She loved Buffy to pieces but it had been a long time since they had been able to talk about anything personal with each other. This didn't seem like the right time or topic to start on because it was guaranteed that Buffy wouldn't understand what was going on in her head.

"Yeah okay" Buffy seemed happy to be rid of her so Willow headed towards the door. She was mildly surprised when Buffy called her back.

"Willow, make sure she knows I'm not angry or anything...that I do understand," It was a request that reminded Willow of the Buffy of old. The Buffy that she knew back in Sunnydale before Glory and not the one that seemed to be moping around Cleveland now.

"I will" it wasn't much of a response but Willow couldn't think of anything deep to say in return. She was glad Buffy was making an effort towards Faith but it would sound patronising if she complimented her on it.

Instead she cleared off quickly and headed towards the basement stairs. She had a brief moment at the bottom of the stairs when she considered if she was doing the right thing. Following Faith down to the basement to check on her was all very well and good but it would leave the two alone again. They always seemed to flirt in the gym, probably because Faith's adrenaline was raised and she was a bit hornier or something. Willow was between a rock and a hard place with Faith, on one hand she was attracted to her and on the other hand she actually didn't want to be.

They were friends though, in fact at the moment that was all they were and friends looked out for one another. In fact, she was being totally selfish a ridicules, it wasn't fare to mistreat Faith because she was struggling. Dilemma over, Willow took a deep breath and entered the gym, closing the door behind her again to ensure Faith's privacy. Dawn and Chloe were across the hall in the weaponry and if the door was open than they could ease drop. Willow adored them both but Dawn was most definitely capable of doing a bit of sneaky listening in.

"What's up red?" Faith greeted without even slowing or turning away from her assault on the punch bag. It was a form of greeting rather than a question, a bit like bugs bunny's 'what's up doc'.

"I'm just...here"

_Well that was kind of stupid sounding, _Willow thought to herself. It was probably a fairly accurate thing to say though, she **was** just there, there to say or do something but she didn't know what yet. However, as Faith wasn't sat inside her brain or equipped with one of those universal translators they had on Farscape then it probably made no sense to the brunette. It seemed to elicit some sort of reaction in Faith though because she stopped training and rested her head against the punch bag she had just been pounding.

"You're just here" she repeated quietly, only just loud enough for Willow to hear. Willow wasn't sure if she'd said the wrong thing or if Faith was just more perceptive than Willow had her pinned down as.

"I didn't mean to sound like I was brushing you guys off before" Faith still had her head buried in the punch bag but she spoke clearer this time.

"You're worried" Willow stated, "So is Buffy...we both get that you don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Yeah cool" Faith brushed the topic off, "come over here I want to do something with you."

Willow had a flash of something involving Faith and a lack of clothing but inwardly scolded herself. Faith didn't mean anything like that and Willow wasn't ready even if she did, was she? Faith moved from the punch bag to one of the roll mats which she plonked herself down on, distracting Willow from her mental debate and making her wonder if Faith did mean something of a physical nature. The brunette wasn't splayed across the mat or anything; she just sat there with her legs crossed in front of her like she was a young school child.

"C'mon" Faith instructed, "I think you need to sit in front of me."

That sounded like Faith wasn't sure what she was doing but Willow thought it looked oddly like how you would sit if you were creating a spell or something. She sat down in front of Faith and crossed her legs like the other girl had asked, waiting for an explanation.

"You told me that there was a third form of shield" Faith began, "a type of deep meditation as I understand it."

"Yes" Willow could see were this was going and she wasn't sure if she was comfortable with it.

"Can we try it?" Faith asked, "I mean you trust me right? We're five by five and everything?"

Willow felt her gut wrench slightly as her head's internal battle began to really rage. Of course she trusted Faith, it wasn't like she didn't think Faith was capable of anchoring her but it felt too odd to contemplate. Tara was her anchor, or Giles had done it in some spells but that had been different. Tara and her had the whole sexual tension thing going so there anchoring was more intense and intimate. Faith and her had sexual tension and the idea of sharing that same experience with the brunette slayer was definitely too much for her right now.

"No!"

When she snapped her head up again to look at Faith, who was shifting uncomfortably, she felt guilty about how she suddenly found herself suffering with split personality. One second she was all over the poor girl and then she was suddenly backing off. Faith must be wondering what the hell was suddenly going on because Willow could see hurt creeping into Faith's facial expression.

"It's not that I don't trust you...I do" Willow started to babble, "I trust you with my life but I...Well its complicated...It's the anchoring...It's..."

Willow was on her feet and moving before she even realised what she was doing but there could be no turning back now. She had to get to her room and away from people so she could think and calm down. She didn't even shut the gym door during her escape and she flew up the stairs at such a speed that she actually knocked a surprised Buffy out the way.

Faith didn't think she'd actually moved a muscle whilst Willow sped out the room; she just sat perfectly still and watched the girl's speedy retreat. _Well that went well _she thought to herself miserably, Willow obviously wasn't ready to get too close to her yet.

Faith had thought the meditation thing would be a good idea, it would help Willow with her magical control and Faith hoped it may help her chill out too. That's what the meditation thing was about right, emotional control? Obviously Faith hadn't thought it through too well though because she should have realised Willow would be uncomfortable with it.

There was a knock on the open door and Faith looked up to see Buffy stood in the doorway with a very dramatic and concerned look across her face.

"Willow has just nearly knocked me down the stairs! Have you two had an argument or something?"

Faith felt like burying her head in the sand like an ostrich and ignoring Buffy's presence but it wouldn't be a very adult way to deal with the situation. It was moments like these when she felt like reverting to form and being an ass.

"No" Faith replied irritably, it wasn't a lie after all, they hadn't argued.

"Well why did Willow sprint up the stairs like you have fallen out then?" Buffy obviously wasn't going to go away without some sort of answer.

"I stepped on somebody's toes" Faith sighed, "I stepped on Tara's toes I think."

Buffy just looked baffled and it was obvious to Faith that the other slayer wasn't going to figure out what was going on for herself. It didn't seem that hard to Faith, Willow was still in love with Tara and no one else was good enough to take her place or even share it. Surely Buffy must know how much Willow loved the girl and how much she missed her right?

"Tara is dead!" Buffy really wasn't getting it at all.

"Gone but not forgotten" Faith was exasperated, it wasn't her place to school Buffy in the inner workings of her own friends mind.

"Well no, I understand that Willow will always love her" It looked like something may be clicking in Buffy's head finally.

"Yeah" Faith encouraged, "like you'll always love Angel even if the two of you can't be together or whatever right?"

"Right" Buffy agreed, "You and Willow are close so I don't get what would make her react that way still."

"Listen B, I really don't feel like talking about this!" Faith was becoming more and more agitated. She knew Buffy was just trying to make sure Willow was okay but the blonde was just so out of touch with how the red head was feeling that it made Faith tense. She was not going to spell it out to Buffy like the bloody alphabet, she was not going to tell Buffy anything Willow had confided in her and she damn well wasn't going to pour her own heart out to her.

"Okay" Buffy backed off, "I was just worried you'd fallen out!"

Even though Buffy was far more accepting of her than Xander, Faith suspected that the blonde slayer would not be remotely upset if her and Willow did fall out. In fact, she would probably be the opposite of upset, i.e. happy.

"I'll go speak to her in a bit" Faith assured Buffy, "I'll just finish up here first."

Buffy seemed to accept this as a suitable solution, or else she just knew she wasn't getting anything else out of her and left Faith to her training. It was hard for Faith to focus on anything though and in the end she just spent about an hour doing fitness exercises, half that time was spent just doing press ups until her arms actually ached. She wasn't a complete machine and even slayers had a pain barrier but her protesting limbs were distracting her from Willow a little.

Once she had finished in the gym she went and showered and changed in her room. She didn't bother rushing; she was potentially building up to quite an awkward conversation with Willow so she had little motivation to do anything in a rush. There wasn't just Willow to worry about, from what that book had implied she could well be heading to a miserable slayer death that night. It was an odd thing to be thinking about but she actually took time choosing what to wear in case it was the outfit she died in. She'd done that before the battle with the first too and it seemed logical to wear the same clothes again; maybe they were lucky?

Lucky clothes was a pretty stupid idea but it was somehow comforting so Faith just let herself go with it and dressed in the old denim jeans and jacket again. Then she headed up to the lounge to check what was going on with the others.

She had lingered so long in the basement that it was now just past four in the afternoon; Giles had obviously closed up the shop early and was now sat with everyone bar Willow in the lounge.

"Faith" he greeted as she entered, "I'm glad you're here, I have a tiny bit of new information."

Everyone seemed kind of quiet so Faith guessed that the news wasn't good news or the usually cheery Dawn would look happy. Instead the young girl just looked concerned, like everyone else in the room did.

"The watchers council found some information about a slime demon in a copy of one of the old diaries" Giles informed her, "We don't have a slime demon here or we'd have had problems with the sewers and well...slime!"

"That leaves our supposedly invincible mystery demon" Faith surmised out loud, "yay!"

The room was kind of quiet for a minutes and Faith felt like an animal at the zoo because everyone was looking at her and waiting for her to do or say something.

"It doesn't change anything" Buffy finally stated, "I think we just need to take a wide range of weapons...I don't think one of these creatures have ever seen a slayer before."

Faith had already considered this of course, it still didn't make her any the less weary about taking the others with them. As it had been pointed out earlier they were going to come no matter what so Faith wasn't getting into all that again. She'd not long got herself totally calm so getting confrontational now was not an option.

"I'll go tell Willow" Faith was talking to Buffy more than anyone else but it was obvious that everyone was listening intently.

"Good idea" Buffy nodded, "I think we are eating and planning at about half six so let her know that too."


	20. Chapter 20

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**I'm off on a 240 mile sponsored cycle for four days so here is an update to keep you going! If anyone is curious about why the hell I'm cycling so far then take a gander at the website http:/www..uk/ xxx**

**Chapter 20**

Willow had spent the rest of the afternoon in her room wrapped in Tara's jumper and curled up on the bed. She hadn't moved in about two hours and she was dreading having to face the others, especially as Buffy, Dawn and Chloe had all seen her hasty exit from the gym earlier. This meant that they would all be theorizing about it and wondering what had passed between her and Faith.

Now that was a troublesome topic, what was passing between her and Faith? At the moment her head was going round in circles and she couldn't make heads or tails out of her feelings. It was a huge churn of emotions that she couldn't neatly order and store away as being dealt with. Fact 1, she really liked Faith and had urges to kiss her and stuff. Fact 2, she still loved Tara and even though she was gone Willow couldn't quite picture herself having the same kind of thing with anyone else. She was back to fact one again because she did like Faith but she didn't want to replace Tara but she really did like Faith etc

"Shit" Willow grumbled to herself for about the fortieth time in the last hour. She really was getting nowhere because on the one hand she was wearing Tara's jumper yet she was also cuddling the pillow Faith had used the night before. This worrying may all be academic now of course because as thick skinned as Faith pretended to be she was going to have been hurt in the gym before. In fact, Willow had half expected Faith to follow her and try to talk to her about it but obviously not. She'd half expected Buffy to follow her as well after she'd nearly pushed the slayer over before. Apparently everyone seemed to be giving her space or possibly in Faith's case she just didn't want to see Willow.

There was a gentle knock on the door and Willow looked up to see who entered but nobody did. She stood up and opened the door, wondering who was behind it that wouldn't just let themselves in. She was surprised to find Faith on the other side of the door; the brunette slayer had been just walking in over the last couple of days so Willow knew she had made Faith feel really awkward if the girl was now waiting to be let in instead.

"Hey" the slayer greeted, "can I come in?"

Willow felt even worse now that she could see how hurt Faith was, it was written all over her pretty face. She stepped to the side to allow Faith access to the bedroom and the slayer slipped past her and into the room. Willow closed the door behind them and turned to watch Faith as she paced around by the window on the other side of the room.

"I'm sorry about before" Faith finally stood still, "I didn't think about...Well I just thought it would be helpful for me as well as you."

"You didn't do anything wrong!" Willow exclaimed, "If anyone should be sorry then it's me!"

Willow felt like something was twisting her gut and she actually thought she may be sick or at least start gagging. Willow hadn't stayed around long enough to find out why Faith wanted to meditate; she had just selfishly linked it back to her own inner battle and escaped. Would it have made a difference? Well Willow still wouldn't have done the deep meditation were you require an anchor but she would have tried a more superficial kind of meditation. Willow really did feel like a total idiot.

"No" Faith disagreed, "I don't want to push you Willow but I think I am without meaning too."

Willow still hadn't moved from by the door and she felt like she was stuck like glue to the floor there. It seemed like Faith was admitting that she wanted her and Willow to get together, unless Willow was misreading the situation.

"You're not pushing" Willow said honestly, "It's me...I'm just being a little strange I guess!"

Faith smiled weakly in response before shifting from the window to the bed. She sat on the edge before falling back so that she was lying across the bed with her legs hanging of the edge. It gave Willow an aerial view of the brunette's face.

"Her majesty wants me to tell you that we are meeting in the dining room at half six" Faith stated, sounding a little frustrated.

"I take it you mean Buffy?" Willow enquired. The two slayers had been getting on okay so it seemed a little odd that Faith sounded slightly ratted of with Buffy now. She wondered if it was something to do with her own performance today because Buffy was obviously going to have presumed that Faith had done something wrong.

"Yeah" Faith agreed, "I was just in the lounge and we've got some more news."

From the tone of Faith's voice Willow could tell that the news, whatever it may be, was not of the positive kind. In fact it sounded like news of the big bad apocalypse kind so Willow sat herself on the bed next to Faith and waited for the brunette to continue.

"The watcher's have gone through some old slayer texts and determined that we do not have one of those slime demons."

Willow contemplated Faith's words; if it wasn't a slime demon then it was probably the other one that nobody had seen and lived to tell the tale. That was not good news and it explained Faith's frustration because she knew the brunette slayer didn't want all the gang going to face the demon tonight.

"So it's our mystery demon" Willow stated, "yippee!"

Faith turned her head to gaze up at Willow and smiled weakly again at her attempted humour. Willow felt something twinge pleasantly internally as she returned the gaze of the brunette. Faith really was attractive, especially when she was more relaxed like this. Willow couldn't help but smile at her own confusion, now she was sat in her room with Tara's jumper on and admiring Faith. Her head really was going around in circles and she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The crying didn't seem like a good option so she stuck with the manic laughter, even if it did make Faith think she'd gone crazy.

Faith just seemed a little confused by her sudden laughter so Willow scooted across the bed slightly and cuddled into the side of Faith. Faith was very still for a bit before shifting the arm that Willow was lying on and wrapping it around her.

"I'm a little confused!" Faith finally admitted, "Is there any particular reason for the cuddling and the laughter?"

"No" Willow laughed again, "just ignore me!"

Willow kept her head buried into Faith's shoulder during the short conversation in fear of the laughter turning to tears. She was glad Faith didn't seem to want to press the matter again. If there was one thing in particular that Faith was good at then it was not pressing during conversations. In fact Faith seemed happy enough just to lie there and cuddle in silence.

They must have been lying on Willow's bed for about an hour before Faith realised that time was ticking away and soon they would have to go for dinner. Willow had been that silent for a while that she could have been asleep although Faith suspected that she wasn't. Obviously Willow had a lot on her mind and Faith hadn't failed to notice what jumper the red head was wearing. It was the same one as Willow had described to her yesterday, it was Tara's jumper.

"Willow you need to get changed and stuff" Faith informed her, "It's nearly food time."

Willow groaned and buried her head even further into Faith's shoulder. Faith knew exactly how the red head felt because she really didn't feel like socialising either. Unfortunately they had no choice in the matter because if they didn't go willingly then no doubt Buffy would come and drag them out. The others would all presume the two of them were having sex and Xander would snarl at the pair of them for hours.

"Come on red you really need to get up!"

Willow seemed to respond to the plea and she sat up and stretched. Faith didn't bother moving; she was already showered and dressed so there was no need. Instead she watched Willow clamber to her feet and head towards the cupboards with her clothes in.

"Are you just going to lie there and wait for me?" Willow asked as she riffled through her tops.

"What other position do you want me?" Faith hadn't even meant it to sound dirty but had managed to all the same. Willow's reaction was priceless, she turned her head towards Faith and her eyebrows raised that high that Faith thought they may actually merge with her hair line.

"That wasn't the best thought through thing I have ever said!" she admitted, feeling an unfamiliar heat in her cheeks.

"It's alright" Willow giggled, "It just means I'll have plenty of thoughts to keep me entertained in the shower!"

Willow's words were jovial and flirty but the second they had left her mouth Faith noticed an instant change in the witch's body language. She had obviously spoken before she had thought through what she was saying and now looked thoroughly annoyed with herself. Faith was well aware of the battle raging inside Willow and knew that the girl wasn't meaning to hurt her when she swung from flirting to backing away from her. Obviously Willow felt guilty for doing so though.

"I'm sorry..." Willow began to speak but Faith decided to cut her off.

"Its okay" she admitted, "I'm not stupid red, I do understand what's going on so don't worry about it okay?"

Willow finished routing in her cupboards and headed towards the bathroom door, stopping in the doorway and turning back to face Faith. The brunette slayer watched the mixture of emotions cross the red heads face and wished that she could say something that would make all the pain go away.

"It's not okay Faith" Willow finally replied, "It's not okay because it's not a fair way to treat you."

"I've had worse" Faith pointed out; usually everything in her life was totally negative so this was a massive improvement.

"I know" Willow agreed, "but you deserve better."

Faith was about to protest and remind the red head that actually in the general scheme of things she probably didn't. She was probably still on course for burning damnation in hell if such a place actually existed, so a bit of emotional toeing and throwing from Willow was nothing. She didn't form words quick enough though and Willow had already shut the bathroom door by the time she'd formed a reply in her head.

This left Faith and her thoughts alone together for a while and gave her a chance to consider what she was feeling. Usually she'd have tried to force down any feelings she may be having and ignore them but she was suddenly feeling more and more ready to embrace them. Although she didn't agree with Willow's conclusion about the way the red head was treating her it did leave Faith feel a little warm and cosy inside. After all, it showed that Willow did care about her a lot; the cute red head just wasn't ready to give up her former love yet.

Faith actually felt pretty capable of waiting though, it wasn't like she was inundated with offers and even if she were, she had never actually liked anyone before. She'd found her conquests attractive but that wasn't the same thing, she didn't give a damn about them apart from the fact they looked good. Willow on the other hand was completely different. Not that Willow wasn't attractive or anything but she was also smart and funny and kind of hot in a strange slightly geeky way. Faith had to accept the fact that she had very randomly fell for the girl in a big way. In fact, she was so inundated by thoughts about her that it probably only meant one thing. She was falling in love with Willow Rosenburg and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Well that's interesting" she mused out loud.

Just as she finished saying it she heard the door creak open and Willow emerged out the bathroom, showered and changed.

"I didn't bother washing my hair" the red head admitted, "it seemed kind of pointless if we are going demon hunting later."

Faith tried in vain to think of a response but her head was in a spin. Now she had admitted the extent of her feelings to herself the reappearance of the object of her affections had thrown her into a loop.

"What's with the silly smile?"

Faith didn't even realise she was smiling, never mind silly smiling at the red head and the revelation was a bit embarrassing.

"What silly smile?" she covered, "that's just my face!"

Faith decided that if you can't think of something intelligent to say then resort to humour to cover your tracks. Willow opened her mouth like she was about to protest but then she shut it again, obviously thinking better of what she was going to say. Faith guessed it was going to be something flirtatious or something complimentary and felt a tiny bit disappointed that Willow hadn't just said it anyway. Flirting with Willow was fun after all, even if the red head did get a little irritated with herself afterwards.

"We better get going" Willow finally spoke, "or we'll be late."

"You're late for tea!" Faith squealed, doing her best Alice in Wonderland impression to try and dispel Willow's tension.

"I love the March Hare!" Willow exclaimed, "He's totally crazy!"

Faith's attempts at humour had obviously worked because Willow seemed at ease again. The pair made their way to the dining room discussing Alice in Wonderland and its various characters.


	21. Chapter 21

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 21**

Buffy felt surprisingly relieved to see Willow and Faith enter together, animatingly discussing something like nothing had happened that afternoon. Although she was very weary of the two's 'friendship' she also didn't want Willow to be any more upset than she usually was. Even though they had grown apart and Buffy could never fathom out what was going on in Willow's head she still cared about her friend as much as she ever had. Faith's unexpected arrival had reminded Buffy of that more than ever.

"Chloe has cooked us a high carbohydrate demon ass kicking meal" Xander informed them as they entered.

"Let's just hope no-one or nothing has served up our demon something similar!" Faith broke her conversation to remark.

Buffy noticed that everyone seemed to be looking at Willow and Faith now that they had entered. Even though she hadn't told the rest of them about Willow's hasty exit from the gym that afternoon clearly someone else, i.e. Dawn, had obviously spilt the beans.

"You've cheered up Willow" Dawn stated, causing everyone's gaze to intensify on the two.

"Dawn!" Buffy chastised. Sometimes there were things you don't bother bringing up and this was one of them, especially not in front of lots of other people.

Willow didn't respond and shifted uncomfortably as everyone continued to gaze at her except from Giles who had looked away. Suddenly Xander cleared his throat very loudly which brought everyone's attention to him and away from the nervous looking Willow.

"I'm starving!" he exclaimed, "I think we should probably help Chloe carry the food through from the kitchen."

Buffy flashed him a quick smile as they all filed out to the kitchen to get their own plate of food. She smiled again when he grasped Dawn's hand to get her attention and gave her a reproachful look. He was silently chastising her for putting Willow on the spot without making a big deal of it. He was like the big goofy older brother to Dawn and he really was good with her. Willow used to be good with Dawn too but after Tara and Willow split up that had began to change and after Tara's death their relationship fell apart. Sometimes they seemed to get quite friendly again but Willow never seemed like a big sister to her now and Buffy suspected that Dawn had never quite forgiven her for threatening to kill her. In fact, Buffy doubted that Willow had ever really forgiven herself for it either.

Chloe's high carbohydrate meal consisted of some pasta with a tomato based Italian sauce, washed down with plenty of coffee. There were several conversations going on around the table and Buffy didn't really get involved in any of them, choosing instead to be the silent observer. Giles and Chloe were discussing something to do with the shop, Willow and Faith were discussing films they both liked and Dawn was talking at Xander and Andrew about the hotel's armoury she'd spent the afternoon cleaning.

After the food was finished they remained sat around the table so they could discuss how they were going to tackle the demon that night. All heads seemed to turn to her suddenly and Buffy realised that everyone expected her to take lead in the conversation. She's expected Giles to take charge or even possibly Faith after this morning so she hadn't given it much thought yet. She wasn't even sure if there was much thought she could give it as they were going into the warehouse pretty much blind.

"We need to have some sort of contingency plan" she announced to the waiting group.

"I'm thinking we stick together, I'd rather we didn't split up as we don't know what's down there" she continued.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement and Buffy wondered if there was actually anything more they could discuss. Obviously Chloe would be staying behind at the hotel and the others would have to go in two cars to the warehouse. They would go down to the basement, kick some demon ass and drive home again. Sorted!

"What weapons do we take?" Dawn spoke up, "obviously stakes aren't that necessary."

That was actually quite a good question and trust Dawn to be the one who asked. Buffy was busy mulling the question over in her head when Faith spoke up.

"I suppose we just take a range of things" she suggested, "crossbows, swords, axes blah blah blah!"

"Sounds sensible" Giles chirped in.

Everyone around the table became quiet again and Buffy cringed at the lack of fine detail in their plan. They really were going in blind but at least they were going in blind with two slayers rather than one. As awkward as Faith's arrival had been at least the brunette slayer seriously kicked ass in a fight!

Willow had felt a little awkward over diner after all the looks she'd got when she'd entered the dining room but Faith had put her at ease with her daft conversation about Scooby Doo and Charlie Brown. Once diner was over they had briefly discussed their lack of plan for the night's demon slaying before everyone split up to get ready.

All Willow had needed was the toilet because she had already showered, changed and had her coat with her already. So after making her toilet stop she headed to the armoury where they were all to meet. She wasn't the first there because Faith was sat on the floor with her back against the wall.

"I wasn't the only one already dressed for the fight then?" Willow remarked as she plonked herself down on the floor next to Faith.

"I'm always dressed for the fight" Faith quipped, "You should know that!"

Willow smiled warmly at the brunette and rested her head against Faith's shoulder. The brunette slayer didn't even flinch which made a warm smile creep onto Willow's face. Only a couple of days ago Faith would have been as uncomfortable as hell in this situation but whether it be because of friendship or attraction the pretty slayer was getting quite cuddly now.

"We'll be okay tonight" Faith muttered, although Willow couldn't quite make out if it was a question or a statement of fact.

"Sure" Willow agreed or responded, "We've faced all sorts of demons, goddesses and other crazies but we're still standing."

They had been lucky that so few of their group had died considering all the evil they had faced and Willow always saw a horrible irony in the fact that one of the few losses, Tara, was killed by a human rather than anything more unsavoury. Warren had come so close to ending Buffy's life too, holy water and stakes did very little against guns.

"I've never gone into a fight feeling like this before" Faith stated, "usually I'm like yay fight but tonight I'm just worried that someone will get hurt."

Willow lifted her head away from Faith's shoulder so she could look at the slayer. The brunette had her eyes downcast towards the floor and looked deep in thought. Willow couldn't help feeling guilty for causing emotional turmoil in Faith, especially as she was so unsure of what she was feeling herself.

"Faith" Willow had meant to sound comforting but it came out kind of breathless and raspy. So much so that Faith's face suddenly swung towards her and the brunette had a mixture of confusion and desire written all over her face.

"I don't know what to do about this red" Faith stated quietly, "I'm not good with feelings ... I've never really had many of them before."

"I don't know what to do either" Willow admitted, "I have the opposite problem though... I've had a hell of a lot of feelings before and I don't know what to do about them."

She couldn't believe they'd got that out in the open between the two of them. It had started to become apparent that they had feelings for the other but she hadn't expected it to be verbalised quite so openly just yet. Faith had begun to tap the ground with the fingernails of her right hand and actually seemed quite nervous. Willow found her nervous expression quite cute and it brought a smile to her face. She was trying to formulate something to say to calm the situation down but she then she could hear somebody talking at the top of the stairs to the basement and realised they were about to have company. Faith's gaze turned in the direction of the noise too and she sighed loudly.

"If something bad happens tonight I'll regret not doing this so..." Faith broke her speech and grasped Willow's cheeks, placing a quick kiss on her lips before pulling away and letting go again.

It had been so brief that Willow had no time to react or respond to the peck and within seconds of the brunette pulling away Buffy and Dawn appeared around the corner. Faith was sat very still with her head leant back against the wall and her eyes closed.

"You okay Faith?" Buffy asked as she reached them.

Faith opened her eyes and glanced towards Willow. Willow flashed her a warm smile so the brunette knew that everything was okay between them and the pretty slayer smiled back.

"I'm good B" Faith turned her gaze back to Buffy, "Five by five!"

Dropping her old saying into the conversation brought a warm smile from Buffy and the blonde slayer plonked herself on the floor next to Faith. Dawn followed suite and the four waited in comfortable silence for the others to appear.

_I kissed Willow and she didn't freak!_

That was about the only thing going through Faith's head as she sat and waited for the guys to appear. She could hear some sort of conversation around her involving Willow, Buffy and Dawn but she had no idea what they were actually saying. She just had the quick kiss and Willow's cute little smile on replay, running over and over again in her mind.

"Faith?" Buffy's voice tugged her back out of her thoughts and back to the real world.

She looked to the side where she expected Buffy to be sat and found that the blonde was now on her feet as was Willow and Dawn. Giles, Xander and Andrew where stood there too and Faith couldn't believe she'd zoned out enough not to notice their arrival.

"You coming?" Buffy asked with obvious amusement in her tone of voice.

"Yes... weapons... monsters...slaying! I'm coming!" Faith launched to her feet and tried to hide any of the embarrassment she was feeling over looking like a total dope.

A couple of people snickered as they turned towards the weapons Dawn had set out but Willow lingered facing Faith. Faith ducked her eyes down to the floor in embarrassment before looking back at the pretty red head. When she did finally make eye contact it warmed her to see that Willow was smiling very warmly at her, even her pretty eyes seemed to hold some of that smile.

"Mind somewhere else?" Willow asked coyly, still smiling broadly.

"Not exactly...on something else rather than somewhere else!" Faith replied, matching Willow's grin with one of her own.

"Have a sword that should wake you up!" Xander cut into the conversation by thrusting a large sword into Faith's hand. Obviously he wasn't impressed by hers and Willow's mutual smiling session and had decided to break it up for himself. Faith briefly considered hitting him with the sharp end of the sword but then thought better of it. In his own annoying way he was probably to get their minds focussed back on the job at hand because smiling like a loved up teenager wasn't going to defeat any of these bad guys.

"You have a sword" Faith grumbled irritably before turning away from Xander and following an axe clasping Giles up the stairs.

"Grump!" Xander called after her, humour lacing his voice. Faith tried to hold back her laughter but she ended up sniggering when everyone else did.


	22. Chapter 22

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 22**

They had split into two cars to travel to the warehouse. Willow had Faith, Buffy and Dawn in her car whilst Xander and Andrew went with Giles in his jeep. The ride over was silent and Willow could feel the anticipation growing as they neared the industrial park. With her and Dawn it was nervous energy but Buffy and Faith had this hyped aura about them. It was hard to describe to others but Willow had been able to feel Buffy's aura more and more as she had grown more powerful. Now with Faith on the scene the slayer's aura was intensified especially due to the nature of Faith's character. Willow had come to realise within the last week that Faith was a much more 'intense' person than Buffy in general. Faith felt more and therefore hurt more but because of that she felt the need to hide what was going on in her head more than Buffy ever had. The exception to that, of course, was when they had raised Buffy from the dead because for several months afterwards the blonde slayer had been much more introverted.

As they pulled into the industrial park Willow noticed that Faith was watching her intently. She seemed oblivious to how obvious she was being in front of the others and It really was obvious she was staring because Willow could see Buffy and Dawn smirking at Faith when she looked back in the rear view mirror. It was quite endearing really but ill timed as Faith was now clearly distracted and her aura began to decrease as she relaxed.

"We're here" Willow declared as she pulled up next to Giles' jeep in the parking lot by the warehouse.

At the sound of her voice Faith seemed to suddenly jump back into fight mode and she was the first one out the car. After Willow climbed out and locked the door she looked across at the brunette slayer and she could swear she could see her blushing in the faint light the industrial parks security lights gave off.

"No sign of anything small and angry yet" Xander informed them as the four women reached the front security gate where the others had been waiting for them.

"I suspect they'll be waiting inside for us" Faith commented. "In the open its advantage us... in the basement it's advantage them."

Xander nodded thoughtfully before using the metal cutter's he was carrying to snap the chain of the security fence, letting the gate swing open slowly in front of them. He tossed the cutters against the fence so he could find them later; they may be useful for opening gates but they were a bit to heavy duty for use as a weapon.

They all stood rigid for a few seconds and it was impossible for Willow not to notice the general tension in the group. They were about to take a step into the complete unknown which was actually quite a new thing because usually they at least had a vague idea about what they were dealing with. Typically it was the slayers who moved first, seemingly in sync with the other as they crossed the now open gateway and began walking towards the warehouse in front of them. Willow found her legs suddenly and she followed the two slayers, hearing the footsteps of the others behind her as they followed on. Even though her legs seemed to be working and moving in a regular rhythm they felt almost jelly like. She hadn't felt like that since she'd been in high school, probably because she'd discovered magic after that and had began to feel more and more invincible. Since she had got the magic more or less under wraps she had felt decidedly more human again. She hadn't really felt under threat before now because before Faith had come to Cleveland she hadn't feared dying. Perhaps she would have even welcomed death because at least then she'd have been able to escape the pain of Tara's loss.

Willow's mind was brought back to the task at hand when the sound of Faith kicking in the warehouse door wrung out across the disserted industrial park.

"I guess we're presuming they saw us coming" Willow stated, "because if they didn't we just lost the advantage of surprise!"

She heard a couple of chuckles from behind her and Faith turned briefly to smirk at her before taking the lead and walking through the space where the door once resided. The warehouse was empty and totally silent which made it kind of eerie. It definitely felt like the calm before the storm. Xander, the only one holding a torch and he broke away from the group to switch on the power at the box he'd located on the wall by the door.

"And then there was light!" Andrew exclaimed a little too loudly, causing his voice to echo at least six times around the vast open space. He put his free hand over his mouth and raised his other hand in apology, nearly taking of Giles' head with the mallet he was holding. Taking Andrew to war was really like batting for the other team by accident in baseball.

"The stairs down to the basement are this way" Xander gestured towards the back left of the building. Buffy and Faith began to move in the direction he had pointed in at a brisk walk that Willow could barely keep up with. Still the only noise they could hear was the clicking of their shoes across the stone floor which echoed horribly. The slayer's pace slowed as they reached the stairs to the basement and they made their way cautiously down, aware that anytime now they should come under attack.

Willow had expected an assault of little blue monsters to start the instant they reached the basement but that was not the case. In fact it was still horribly silent as they reached the bottom of the steps and Willow clung on to the axe she was carrying like it was precious. They made their way into the middle of the fairly large space before the slayers both stopped. Their attention had been caught by an incredibly large hole in the ground at the far end of the room which was obviously the point of entry for the strange underground creatures.

"Big hole" Xander commented. "Doesn't that suggest that something big is going to come out of it?"

"Nothing much is coming out right now" Buffy practically growled back at him. Willow could understand her frustration because the suspense was killing her too. The longer the silence lingered on the more under threat Willow was beginning to feel.

"Let's see if we can't encourage something to pop its head up and say hey" Faith piped up. She picked up a large rock from a mound of rubble and stepped much too close to the hole for Willow's liking. The brunette then proceeded to throw the stone like a missile down the hole with some force. They couldn't even hear the stone hit the bottom of the hole which was perhaps more eerie than the silence.

"Come out come out wherever you are!" Xander quipped.

Willow was about to chastise him when suddenly there was a rumbling sound that seemed to get louder and louder terribly quickly. Faith stepped back towards the group and flashed Buffy a cheery smile. Only a slayer could think that they'd solved a problem by pissing a monster of rather than caused one.

The noise became almost deafening before countless little blue creatures seemed to just pour out of the hole like soldiers climbing out of the trenches. Willow had an inkling that the no man's land of the first world war was probably more intimidating then the seven of them though.

"Told you they were ugly!" Faith shouted over the screeching noise that they were making before bounding towards the oncoming creatures and into battle.

Faith knew that there would be a lot of the little blighters but she hadn't expected there to be quite this many. There were at least fifty of them, if not more, and as of yet there was no sign of anything bigger coming to play. Right now that wasn't a bad thing as they were seriously risking getting overrun just by the angry little burrower's that were swarming round them like Willow's bee analogy. As of yet none of them seemed to be brandishing weapons but they were certainly having a good go at laying into her and the others.

After a particularly effective swipe of the sword she had cleared herself enough space to have a look round and check nobody needed help desperately. Buffy was finding it quite easy to stave off the creatures as you'd expect of a slayer but everyone else bar Dawn seemed to be really struggling. Dawn was sat on a barrel by the stairs and was cheerfully and effortlessly shooting anything that came near her with the crossbow she was so adept at using.

Faith had to kick a creature or two out the way before looking round again. To the right of her Andrew was really looking overrun and Faith charged to his side, knocking creatures out the way as she went, and she deftly tackled the four creatures which were pulling at him. Willow shouted something which Faith couldn't quite make out but Faith could see that one creature was trying to drag her over whilst another two attacked her. Faith wasn't the first to react though as suddenly the creature flopped and fell away from Willow with an arrow embedded in his chest. It was a good job Dawn hadn't got her aim slightly off or the arrow would have been embedded in Willow's leg instead.

Just as Faith was going to go to Willow and help her with the other creatures around her she heard a pained shout behind her and she swung round to see Xander on the floor with some creatures on top of him. Giles tried to help him but he got hauled down too so Faith barrelled forward and charged into the creatures on top of Xander causing them to tumble of him. Buffy was right behind her and she went to Giles and ripped the two creatures of him before helping the watcher back to his feet. Giles was unscathed but Xander seemed to have found the only creature carrying a knife and he had a large laceration in his upper arm. The wound was bleeding quite a bit but there was no artery damaged as the blood was only pouring out rather than squirting out. Once he was back on his feet Xander didn't seem too concerned about the wound and instantly pulled away from her and towards the oncoming creatures again. There was no way he could carry on fighting though because he was a dizzy as hell due to the pain and he looked like he was about to collapse.

As brave as Xander was being his injury had obviously had an effect on Willow because as Faith turned to check the red head was okay she saw her drop the axe she was carrying and raise her hand in front of her. Faith recognised the pose and the preparation straight away and she knew Willow was going to try a repellent shield spell. It was logical and it was brave but it had a high risk of going wrong and sending them al flying, not just the creatures. Willow seemed to catch Faith's gaze before she cast the shield and Faith made sure that Willow could see encouragement in her face. She believed in Willow and she wanted the red head to see that so it would give her confidence. There was a brief flicker of a smile on Willow's face and then she cast the shield causing a ripple to tear across the room like a wave. This ripple seemed to just effortlessly collect all the creatures in its path and push them past the fighting scoobies until the creatures slammed into the wall like waves against rocks.

"That was exceptionally cool!" Dawn gave her verdict from her perch across the room as the others stood in stunned silence. Dawn's assessment was pretty accurate but what was even cooler than the spell itself was the fact that Willow's eyes were still green whilst casting it.

"That was...exceptionally cool!" Faith agreed, flashing Willow a warm smile. She turned back towards Buffy, about to suggest that they dealt with the ten or so creatures that were still on their feet and looking a little nervous. As she first turned Buffy was smiling but suddenly her face fell, as did the three men's behind her. Faith turned back towards Willow to see what they were all looking at and her face must have instantly mirrored their expressions.

"Willow move!" she screamed the words in absolute panic as the scene began to unfold before her.

Willow was stood angled towards Dawn and to the side and slightly behind her something stirred which they had all missed before. The pile of stones that they had presumed was rubble was now moving to form a huge rock creature which was about nine foot high. Its head was barely lower that the ceiling and it looked pretty pissed off with Willow for her clever piece of magic. Faith began to move across the basement to help but she was never going to get there on time before the creature swung its arm and sent Willow clattering against the wall. It took another giant step towards Willow and raised its other arm in which it was holding a giant hammer like weapon. It was clearly planning to slam down its weapon and crush Willow.

Faith's heart was pounding in her chest as she charged across the basement in what felt like slow motion. She's dropped the sword the second she'd started running, knowing it would be no good against this creature. As it was about to slam its arm down Faith reached the creature, springing of a metal barrel to give herself more force she slammed straight into the side of the monster. It was like sprinting into a brick wall but she did manage to shove the creature slightly sideways, forcing it off balance and away from Willow. She couldn't stay on her feet though and she fell backwards onto the floor in front of the creature leaving her exposed to its weapon.

She could vaguely see Buffy with her hands full behind the creature as the blonde slayer was trying to stave off the last conscious creatures from Andrew and Giles who were trying to hold a pained Xander up. The rock monster lifted its hammer and Faith desperately shuck her head trying to clear the fog that had engulfed her since running into it. Something hit the side of its face distracting it slightly and Faith clambered to her feet. It instantly swung the hammer at her and Faith ducked under the oncoming weapon and out of the way. Something hit the monster in the face again, causing it to grasp its cheek with its spare hand. The object that had hit it landed a foot or so away from Faith and she realised that it was one of Dawn's arrows. There wasn't a chance in hell of one of them penetrating it but at least it was slowing the thing down slightly.

Faith stumbled back looking for something to fight the monster with but there was nothing in the room that looked very effective apart from the object in its hand. The hammer it was wielding was definitely heavy duty enough to take it down, now all Faith had to do was wrestle it off it.

Once it had recovered from the shock of being hit in the face the monster swung the hammer down at Faith like a mallet and she jumped sideways, struggling to stay on her feet as the whole floor shuck like an earthquake. She did manage to stay upright though and she seized her opportunity to grab the handle of the hammer near its head end and thrust it up so that the tail end of the handle smashed into the monster. It stumbled back a bit and let go of the hammer but Faith realised very quickly that the huge stone structure was too heavy for her to wield on her own, even with slayer strength.

"B!" she yelled, "help really needed here!"

She didn't know if Buffy heard her because she was too busy trying to drag the hammer out of the way of the large stone hand that grasped out for it. Obviously the blonde slayer had heard her plea though because suddenly she was next to her and grabbing hold of the hammers handle too.

"Swing" Buffy instructed and Faith followed her lead. The weapon was still heavy but between the two of them they managed to swing it to the left so that it clattered into the creatures right leg and causing the limb to shatter.

Buffy didn't need to yell an instruction this time as they both seemed to be in sync. They swung upwards and met the monster as it was falling down with a hefty body shot causing it to crumple and hit the deck. The job wasn't quite done yet and the two of them force the creature backwards with the hammer so that it fell backwards down the hole and then they threw the hammer down after it. They faintly heard a smashing sound several seconds later and Faith wondered how far down the hole actually went. A long way was probably the best estimate she had.

Once the danger the monster posed had been eradicated Faith rushed to Willow's side with Buffy hot on her heels. Dawn had already reached Willow and was checking her breathing. Faith vaguely acknowledged Giles and Andrew forcing the little blue creatures down the hole behind them and Giles was barking orders about throwing the unconscious ones down too.

"She's just unconscious" Dawn assured them, "nothing looks broken or anything so I think she's just been knocked out."

Faith put her hand on Willow's chest to assure herself that she could still feel it rising and falling. Dawn was right though, the delicate looking red head was just unconscious. She grasped Willow's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was unlikely that Willow could feel anything that was going on around her but Faith wanted to assure her just in case. She vaguely registered Dawn moving away from their side to help Andrew and Giles move the creatures but she was focussed on checking Willow for any wounds or signs of bleeding. Willow had a small cut to the side of her head, hidden by her hair, where the monster had struck her. It was only a small cut though and nothing a bit of ice and a bandage couldn't fix up.

"I'm going to take Xander to the hospital" Giles suddenly appeared beside them. "You should get Willow back to the hotel and we'll meet you there later."

Buffy moved towards Willow like she was going to scoop her up but Faith got there first. She was in quite a bit of pain down her right side where she'd slammed into the monster but she wasn't too sore to carry Willow out to the car. She probably had no right to feel possessive over Willow but at least the red head wasn't awake to see it.

"Are you okay?" Buffy put her hand on Faith's shoulder once she'd picked Willow up. It probably didn't give Buffy much confidence when Faith wobbled a little before steadying. It had nothing to do with Willow's weight because she was as light as a feather and more to do with the wave of dizziness that hit her when she first stood up. Once she was upright though the feeling soon went away and the room stopped spinning around her.

"I've got her" Faith assured the blonde slayer. "You just lead the way B."


	23. Chapter 23

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 23**

After a couple of minutes of discussion it was decided that Dawn should drive them back to the hotel even if it was illegal. Buffy had found it quite offensive that nobody wanted her to drive and Andrew had virtually begged for Dawn to do it because she was less likely to crash than Buffy. So she had been relegated to the back seat with Faith and Willow and the two slayers held Willow upright so that she was safely locked into the middle seatbelt. Once they had safely reached the hotel they all piled out the car and Faith carried Willow into the building. Chloe was in the living room waiting for them and was instantly on her feet the second they entered.

"What happened? Is Willow okay? Where are Xander and Giles?" the questions poured out of Chloe's mouth to quickly for them to answer.

"Andrew can you fill Chloe in? Dawn can you get me some water, painkillers, a bandage and some ice and B can you help me get Willow changed and into bed?" Faith started barking orders out. It felt a little strange for Buffy not to be in charge of the situation but she wasn't going to argue with Faith over seniority whilst one of her friends was injured. Instead she just walked ahead of the brunette slayer and began opening doors for her, making it easier for Faith to carry Willow to the red heads room. Faith looked incredibly stiff and uncomfortable as she walked which was no surprise to Buffy as she had witnessed the speed and force at which the brunette slayer had body slammed into the rock creature. If it wasn't for slayer strength then Faith would have probably broken most of the bones in her body in the process. It was also on the side were Faith was already carrying an injury so her stab wound must be really throbbing pretty badly.

Once they'd reached the bedroom Faith placed Willow on the bed and began rifling through her bottom drawer. It seemed a little odd to Buffy that Faith knew her way around Willow's stuff so well but then again she didn't fully understand the nature of their relationship either. The only thing that she did understand was that Faith had found a pair of blue pyjama's for them to put on Willow.

"I think you might be better doing the undressing and I'll just help" Faith stated as she re-approached the bed.

"Okay" Buffy agreed. It wasn't like she hadn't seen Willow half undressed before as they had shared a room in College. Obviously Faith hadn't been in that position before and felt a little inappropriate undressing the object of her affections.

Between the two of them it didn't take long for them to change her and Faith was already dabbing Willows wound with a wet cloth by the time Dawn arrived with the items she'd requested. The painkillers and glass of water was left on the nightstand for when Willow woke up and Faith began to press the ice, which Dawn had thoughtfully wrapped up in a cloth, against Willow's cut.

"Are you going to stay with her tonight?" Buffy asked Faith. She already knew the answer but she didn't want to sound too presumptuous.

"Yeah" Faith replied quietly, her attention completely focused on Willow.

"Well then I'll sit here for twenty minutes and hold the ice to her head whilst you go change and have a shower" Buffy instructed. "You must be pretty sore yourself so a shower will do you the world of good. Besides, Willow may not be impressed if she wakes up to find you in her bed wearing your dirty, sweaty jeans!"

Buffy could see the dilemma in Faith's eyes as the brunette considered her suggestion. Obviously Faith knew it was the right thing to do but she looked reluctant to leave Willow's side. An emotional dilemma which was warming Buffy to the prospect of Faith and Willow hooking up more and more with each passing second. She'd spent the best part of a week feeling irritated and threatened by their closeness and hating the idea of the two of them eventually dating. After the way Faith threw herself into danger to protect Willow it was pretty damn obvious that Faith's feelings where genuine and pretty damn strong. Buffy was starting to realise that the two of them getting together was probably a good and stabilising thing for both of them.

"Yeah okay" Faith finally spoke up, "I doubt she's not going to wake up any time soon anyway but I'll be quick."

"I'll come get you if she does" Dawn spoke up. "I think you're right though, she'll be out cold for a while."

Faith stood up and handed Buffy the cold compress before heading to the door. She had only partly opened the bedroom door before the brunette turned back towards them.

"Thank you by the way, both of you, for helping me against rocky in the warehouse and for this" Faith spoke up. The brunette opened the door fully and began to walk out.

"Faith" Buffy called her back, so that the brunette's head peeped through the open door way. "It's good to have you back. I've been a bit unfair since you arrived but it is good to have you here I promise."

The brunette looked a little surprised at first but Buffy's words eventually drew a large smile from her.

"It's good to be back" she admitted before turning and walking away with the huge smile still plastered across her face.

The door swung closed and Buffy returned her attention to Willow and began dabbing the cold compress on the wound on her head. Dawn joined Buffy on the edge of the bed and leant her head on Buffy's shoulder. It had been a long time since her younger sister had done something so affectionate towards her. They really had all grown apart since the destruction of Sunnydale even though they had been living under the same roof. Even Buffy's relationship with Giles had dwindled and he spent most of his time in the shop with Andrew. Willow had been withdrawn, Xander was friendlier with Chloe than any of the original scoobies and Dawn had spent a lot of time in her own room and rarely socialised with outsiders apart from in college hours. They were all living within themselves, mourning the loss of their home and loved ones privately and letting long held friendships fall apart without even really realising it was happening. It was strange how the arrival of someone they had once considered an enemy could make Buffy see the divide clearly for the first time. Faith's arrival had highlighted the divide but she also seemed to be a catalyst for mending it.

"I think its love" Dawn finally spoke up, "and It's a bit creepy seeing Faith in love but kind of sweet!"

Buffy turned her head to smirk at her younger sister. If Faith heard Dawn refer to her as sweet she was pretty sure the brunette slayer would be unimpressed, even if she had turned over a new leaf.

"You don't think it's sweet?" Dawn persisted.

"I suppose so!" Buffy replied, "I can't imagine Faith agreeing with you though!"

Faith had been reluctant to leave Willow's side but she really did need to shower and change the bandage on her leg. She had been trying to put a brave face on it but her leg in particular was really hurting and she was stiffening up on her right side in general where she had slammed into the rock monster. She still had no intention of staying away from Willow for long and she was in and out of the shower within ten minutes. Her wound had reopened when she slammed into the monster and the soap had stung the wound like crazy but she had ignored the pain so that she could rush. Bandaging her thigh took seconds and she threw some of her short pyjamas on even though they really were a bit to revealing for walking around the hotel in. Not that Andrew would feel like slobbering at her legs tonight if he saw her.

She had only been about twenty five minutes in total by the time she returned to Willow's room. She'd even had a chance to collect a chair from the dining room so she could sit up and monitor Willow for a while. She had taken quite a blow to the head after all. Buffy and Dawn where both sat on the side of the bed when she entered and neither commented on the chair she was carrying even though they both looked at it.

"Hey Faith" Buffy greeted, "the bleeding stopped about fifteen minutes ago so I think the ice has done its job."

"Great" Faith commented as she plonked the chair down by the side of the bed nearest the door. The two Summer's sisters were sat on the opposite side facing her but Dawn almost immediately stood up.

"I'm going to get a shower and wait up for Xander and Giles to get back" Buffy's younger sister stated. She didn't wait for anyone to respond and left the room, giving Faith a friendly pat on the shoulder on the way past. This left just Faith and Buffy, who was still diligently holding the cloth to Willow's head.

"The ice had pretty much melted now so I think I'll follow Dawn's lead and go shower" Buffy spoke up after a few minutes of silence.

"Okay" Faith replied, "I'll see you in the morning."

Buffy nodded before taking the cloth with her and leaving Faith alone to sit with Willow. Once the blonde had left Faith stood up and routed out Willow's nightgown because it was pretty chilly just sat still in her flimsy pyjamas.

Once dressed in Willow's nightgown she decided to switch the bedside lamp on and turn the main light off. Willow was bound to wake up with a banging headache and a bright room wouldn't help that one little bit. If she left the lamp on Willow would also be able to see the water and the painkillers too; something she would probably be in great need of when she woke up.

Once she'd sorted out the lights Faith sat herself down in the chair, shuffling herself to try and get comfortable in the wooden seat. It felt a little strange to just be sitting their staring at her so Faith decided to do something you always saw on TV or in the movies. She grasped Willow's nearest hand and began to stroke it gently, convincing herself that it would be comforting for Willow. In reality it was probably more comforting for Faith because she could feel that Willow was warm even though she looked pale. Even though she now had hold of the red heads hand she found it impossible not to just sit and stare at Willow because she was terrified that something bad was going to happen.

She had been sat there holding Willow's hand for nearly an hour when she heard a faint knock at the door. The door then cracked open slightly to reveal Xander who looked a little pale and his injured arm was heavily bandaged up and in a sling.

"Hey" he greeted softy before closing the door behind him gently and coming to stand by the chair Faith was sat in. "Just got back from the hospital so I thought I'd see how Will was doing."

"Out for the count" she replied, surprised by his friendly tone. "How about you...How's the arm? How many stitches did you need?"

"Thirty six" he grumbled, "and it stings like hell but I've had worse."

He pointed with his un-bandaged arm towards his eye patch. Faith cringed at the memory of him having his eye poked out, it wasn't pleasant to watch and she could well imagine that it had been exceptionally painful.

"Why are you sat in a chair?" he suddenly asked, prodding at the back of the chair with his good hand. "It doesn't look very comfortable!"

"I wanted to stay awake for a bit and check on her and I thought I might fall asleep on the bed" Faith answered honestly. He was right though, the chair was uncomfortable, especially as she was staring to bruise down the right side of her body and stiffen up.

"I think she'll be okay as long as you are here" he suggested. "You should get some sleep Faith; I bet you need it after tonight."

"You're probably right" she admitted, although part of her still feared something going wrong with Willow whilst she slept.

"It happens occasionally!" Xander quipped. He seemed remarkably cheerful for someone who had been badly injured in a fight although she was well aware that he could just be putting a brave face on it. One thing that she had learnt about Xander during her time at Sunnydale was that when the going got tough he went all comedian on everyone's ass to lift morale. A lot of the time he had been the brunt of his own jokes, something she'd found dorky at the time but now she was older she could see that it was actually quite noble of him.

"Anyway I guess I'll leave you to get some sleep" Xander said as he began to quietly edge away towards the bedroom door. He was obviously making an effort with her and Faith wracked her brain for something to say that would acknowledge his effort and show him she was grateful.

"Goodnight Xander" she called out softly after him. It wasn't the most meaningful thing to say but she was tired and her brain wasn't fully functional. It did seem to catch his attention though and he turned round and smiled at her.

"Night" he replied. "Oh Faith...I'm sorry I've given you such a hard time, I should have trusted Willow and I can see now that you two obviously like each other a lot and..."

"...Xander..." Faith interrupted him, "We're not dating or anything."

"Yeah but it's only a matter of time right?" he obviously couldn't resist asking now that they were onto the topic.

"I...I don't know" Faith stuttered slightly. "She's in love with Tara still and I met Tara and she was so good and nice and I'm not like her. I don't know if I'll ever be good enough to...I don't know what to say...I don't want to replace Tara but I do like Willow and I want her to like me enough to move on with me..."

"Do you know what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object Faith?" Xander cut Faith's monologue short with what she considered to be a very strange question.

"Erm...no. Is that some sort of physics question because I never really understood the sciences...?" She decided to play along. She had no idea what the hell he was going on about but he had a very serious look in his eye; a look she really wasn't used to seeing from him.

"Usually it's impossible Faith, if something is immovable then whatever hits it cannot be unstoppable" Xander began to explain, moving closer to her again in the process. He was now stood beside Willow's bed so that he was half facing Faith and half looking at the unconscious Willow.

"I don't understand" he had her totally confused. She got that you could not have two opposing forces that were unstoppable and immovable because obviously something had to give. What didn't get was how it was relevant in any way to her and Willow.

"By all rights that creature made out of stone should have been immovable but you made it move Faith" Xander tried to explain. "You were the unstoppable force...against all the odds...and it was due to sheer will power alone."

"I'm still not sure where this is going Xander or how it relates to my dilemma with Willow" Faith admitted. Xander sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed so that he was now fully facing her. He was obviously wracking his brain for several seconds before he finally spoke again.

"I watched you throw yourself across a room into a moving stone wall to protect her. It was a sheer act of desperation to prevent the person you loved being killed. It's the kind of thing that Tara would have done and it's the kind of thing a good person would do. Besides, I think Tara would probably credit you with having very good taste!"

Xander managed to draw a slight chuckle out of Faith with his comment; it was certainly true that Willow was one thing that she and Tara did have in common. She could also understand where he was coming from with his other comments but she still felt very tainted compared to Tara. The blonde had seemed so pure and sweet, something she had never and could never be.

"I'm just saying that perhaps you're not so very different after all" Xander continued. "Willow's in love with a memory, the perfect Tara, but to be quite frank if Tara returned from the dead now I don't know if she could except Willow for who she is now. Willow's killed someone, If Tara found it hard to deal with all the dark magic before then how would she cope with that? Maybe she doesn't know it herself yet but Willow had grown away from being Tara's girl...you understand each other and need each other... she's your girl now and she's going to realise that at some point. It will just take time I guess."

For a few seconds Faith was stunned by his words. She'd always expected the likes of Xander to think Tara totally superior to her and sing the blondes praises so this was a turn up for the books. He actually though that Tara wouldn't have been able to except Willow after all that had happened to her. Was he right? Or would Tara have understood that it was Willow's love for her that drove her over the edge? Faith certainly liked the idea of Willow being her girl now even if Xander thought it may take time for the red head to see that. They had time; Faith wasn't going anywhere, not when this was starting to feel like a home now.

"When did you become so wise?" Faith asked seriously. This certainly wasn't the goofbag boy she saw at Sunnydale high school and it was the first time since she'd arrived in Cleveland that it dawned on her that he'd really grown up in some ways. Not in some other ways though because he had been a bit of an ass over her arrival but he was currently doing a good job of making up for that.

"Me?" Xander placed his good hand against his chest dramatically. "I've always been like this I've just hid it well!"

"Very well" Faith retorted, causing his to gasp dramatically at her insult. His playfulness was infectious and it was making her giggle like a child. She was definitely overtired if she was giggling like that in front of people! He seemed kind of pleased that he'd made her laugh though and he sprung of the bed fairly athletically for someone with one eye and one working arm before heading back towards the door.

"Good night Faith" he chuckled, "get some sleep for god's sake!"

With that he was gone, leaving the door to slam shut behind him. Faith cringed at the loud bang but it had very little effect on the unconscious Willow who didn't even flicker. Faith decided to follow Xander's order and she stripped of the dressing gown, idly tossing it over the chair, before clambering into bed next to the red head. She was mindful of the fact Willow was probably quite sore too so she kept a small gap between them so that they were lying next to each other on their backs a few inches apart. After the shock of seeing Willow getting slammed across the basement at the warehouse it was hard to avoid all physical contact with her. A fact that Faith found quite amusing considering she'd had an aversion to physical contact up until about three days ago.

She reached out with her right hand and found Willow's left, grasping it gently and keeping hold of it. She didn't think Willow would mind too much if she woke up to find their hands linked and it was about the only physical contact that wouldn't risk either of them leaning on each other's bruises and scrapes in the night. It had one other advantage too, Faith could feel Willow's pulse point in her wrist and the unconscious red head had a strong and steady pulse. So, confident that Willow was alright she let herself close her eyes and gradually drift off to sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 24**

Willow awoke suddenly and with a blinding headache. As her last memory involved a giant monster raising its fist to squish her before everything turned black she was surprised she had awoken at all. Not only was she not a dead and pancaked Willow but apart from a sore head she felt in relatively good health.

Once her vision stopped blurring Willow could see that she was in her own room and that a bedside lamp was on. Next to the lamp there was a glass of water and a pack of pain killers; obviously someone had been very thoughtful. She went to roll over and grab the tablets but something tugged her back. She turned in the bed to face the opposite direction from the water and discovered a sleeping Faith in the bed with her. Obviously she had been too dazed to notice as she'd woke up but Faith was lying on her back next to her with a death grip on her hand.

Willow felt a wave of affection sweep over her as she watched Faith's sleeping face. The brunette looked restless and her face twitched several times as she shifted in the bed. Faith's face was a little bruised on the side nearest to Willow and she couldn't remember anything happening that could have caused it. She had to presume that it had happened after she had gone unconscious, perhaps whilst the brunette slayer was battling the rock demon.

Willow reached across and brushed her free hand against the brunette's darkening cheek, careful not to put any pressure on the bruise that was forming there. The brunette slayer sighed slightly and leant into the touch in her sleep. Willow couldn't hold back a smile at Faith's actions and she began to slowly trace the slayers jaw line with her index finger. The brunette was dressed for bed and had obviously showered because she smelt a damn site better than Willow did. She still smelt of sweat and dust from the warehouse but somebody had changed her. It had probably been Faith although Willow could see the brunette finding that scenario very awkward.

Her headache was still raging and although molesting Faith in her sleep was strangely comforting it was not a proper remedy for the problem. Willow rolled onto her back again so that she could reach the painkillers with her free hand. It took a little effort to pop two pills out of the packaging with one hand and even more effort to take a mouthful of water without choking. Lying down and drinking at the same time does not come highly recommended especially when you're already groggy. Willow managed to slop a fair bit down her cheek and neck in the process which she mopped up with the sleeve of her pyjamas.

Faith seemed to be shifting quite a bit next to her in the bed and Willow managed to extricate herself from the slayers painful grasp. If she let the brunette keep hold of her hand any longer she was going to break it the way she was writhing about.

"Faith?" Willow whispered the name softly, aiming only to calm her rather than jolt her awake. It seemed to have some effect as the brunette stilled and murmured something, possibly Willow's name, but it was said to quietly for the red head to be sure. It did jog her memory of what occurred just before she blacked out in the warehouse. She had been sent flying into a wall by the demon and as it approached her and rose its arm to finish her off she had heard Faith screaming her name in utter panic. Then as everything faded to black she had heard someone running to intercept the demon. It made her shudder slightly to think how close she must have come to death and obviously it was affecting the sleeping slayer too. It's exactly why Faith hadn't wanted her at the warehouse.

She reached towards Faith again and traced the line of the slayers jaw with her index finger. She would never have expected the brunette to sleep deeply enough to not wake up at such contact. Slayer's senses were so red hot that Willow would have expected Faith to wake the second she did. When she'd shared a room with Buffy the blonde had woke up instantly if Willow got out of bed to go the toilet. So either Faith was a deep sleeper or she was just so physically exhausted from the battle that she was out for the count.

The painkillers began to kick in slightly and Willow could feel herself growing groggy again. She shifted even closer to the slayer and cuddled into the side of her, trying not to lean on any of Faith's growing bruises. The brunette really did smell good, a mix between her minty shampoo and shower gel and clean skin. It was something she had only really noticed about Tara before but some people really did just have an appealing smell about them. She made a mental note to research the link between attraction and smell when she was feeling better. Now sleep seemed to be the most important think she could think about...lovely, natural sleep.

Faith woke slowly and struggled to open her eyes against a bright ray of light that had crept through a gap in the curtains. She knew it had to be late morning sometime due to the direction of the light. She was also aware that Willow was now just sleeping and was no longer unconscious as the red head was now wrapped around her. In fact the red heads breath was tickling the patch of skin where Faith's neck and shoulder met and part of her hair had flopped down over her face and onto Faith's chin and clavicle.

She was amazed she hadn't woke up sooner as the whole right side of her body ached and she could feel a sharp stinging pain where the red head was lay on her. She felt like she'd gone fifty rounds with Buffy and then slept under an elephant. Not that she'd ever had an elephant sleep on her before but she could imagine that it would be very uncomfortable.

Willow shifted in her sleep and the red heads elbow dug into Faith's side causing the slayer to hiss in pain. She had nearly cried out but had managed to hold it in so she didn't wake the sleeping witch. Her hiss was enough to bring the red head to consciousness though and Willow's eyes flickered open to look at her.

"Morning" the red head greeted her groggily.

"Hey, can you do me a favour honey and roll off me?" Faith tried to ask as pleasantly as she could. It was hard to say it nicely though because she was speaking through gritted teeth and in a lot of pain. Willow obeyed immediately and rolled onto her back so she was no longer pressed against Faith. The red head then tried to sit up and lean over Faith but she lay back down as quick as she sat up and groaned.

"Dizzy" she explained as the two lay side by side on their backs.

"I bet you are" Faith replied, "I'm pretty sore myself."

"You're black and blue" Willow informed the slayer, turning her head to look at Faith.

"Great" Faith remarked, "Bet I'm a sight for sore eyes then!"

They both looked at each other before bursting out into a fit of giggles. Faith was laughing out of sheer relief that Willow seemed to be alright; perhaps Willow was laughing for the same reason...or perhaps it had something to do with the blow to the head. It was good to hear Willow laughing so wholeheartedly even if it was due to her head injury. Faith hadn't heard the red head laugh like that since she'd swapped into Buffy's body back in Sunnydale. Since then life had certainly jaded Willow's cheer but Faith had high hopes of helping Willow to find happiness. Her little chat with Xander the night before had left her full of hope and much more confident about her chance of Willow warming to the idea of a relationship.

"What are you thinking?" Willow's voice penetrated Faith's thoughts. The brunette turned her head to face the red head and smiled. Willow smiled back adoringly in response and Faith felt her chest flutter and react. It was almost an uncomfortable feeling and it was one that Faith really wasn't getting used to. Did feeling in love really have to be so strange and physical?

"I'm just glad your okay" she admitted, her voice hoarse with emotion.

Faith couldn't believe how she'd sounded but she had very little time to dwell on the matter before Willow reached for her and began tracing her face with the edge of her thumb. That simple action was incredibly distracting and heart warming and Faith was relieved she was lying down and not trying to stand up right now. She was sure that her legs would have buckled at the shock of the gentle contact.

"How did you get those bruises?" Willow asked as she ran her eyes across Faith's features. "Did you get hit by the rock demon too?"

"Not exactly" Faith chuckled, "I body slammed IT."

Willow's caressing hand paused by Faith's ear and the red head looked at her quizzically. Faith could see the clogs in Willows head twisting into place.

"Is that why I'm still alive?"

It was a very direct question and it seemed to hang in the air between them as Faith considered her answer. She had saved people's lives before; it was all in a day's work for a slayer, even a dark and twisty one. She'd always found it hard to deal with people's gratitude even if they were complete strangers. The idea of accepting gratitude from Willow was unsettling so she decided to try and deflect it slightly...when in doubt use humour.

"One of the reasons" Faith admitted, "That and some great team work from me, B and a giant rock hammer!"

Willow snickered slightly and propped herself up on her elbows, closing her eyes to counteract the effects of dizziness. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and smiled before sitting up completely and leaning on the headboard.

"Feeling better?" Faith asked, watching Willow for any signs that she may be feeling ill or sore. The red head simply nodded in response but she tentively placed her fingers against the wound on her head. It was no surprise that it was causing Willow pain and Faith instantly sat up and began to check the wound herself. She was pleased to see that a scab had formed and it was no longer bleeding. It was going to be very sensitive and inflamed for a number of days though.

Just as Faith began to pull her hand away from Willow, the red head grasped her wrist and held it between them. This kept Faith incredibly close to Willow so that she was sat with her legs curled underneath herself and her upper body was lingering just a few centre-metres away from the red head. Faith searched Willow's eyes for some sort of explanation for her actions. She could see gratitude there and adoration. The brunette slayer couldn't look away but she didn't want to launch forward and kiss the red head in fear of hurting her more whilst she was already feeling delicate. Willow seemed to sense or see the tension that was beginning to grow inside of Faith because she began massaging the sensitive skin of Faith's wrist with her thumb.

"Thank you" the red head stated. "I'll have to say thank you to Buffy too but unless you bought a new toy home then the hammer may have to go unrewarded."

"I'm going to get rewarded?" Faith was surprised by her own flirtatious tone. It was amazing how such a simple thing like someone brushing their thumb against a fairly irrelevant patch of skin could be so arousing. For a brief second she worried that Willow would suddenly back away again but then one look at the red head's expression told her otherwise. In fact the opposite happened, instead of pushing her away Willow grasped her shoulder with her other free hand and tugged Faith towards her, closing the gap between them until their lips met.

For a few seconds Faith did nothing other than just press her lips against Willow's and try to let her mind catch up with her body. It had come as a bit of a shock but she certainly wasn't going to let the opportunity get away from her. Determined not to scare Willow, come on too strong or appear like she was just horny she decided to keep everything slow and gentle. She moved her lips against Willow's slightly before capturing her lower lip and sucking on it slightly. Willow groaned as Faith released her lip but instantly captured Faith's. Suddenly Faith found that the red head had released her wrist and was encircling Faith's shoulders with both arms. This deepened the kiss slightly but Faith could tell that she was still dizzy as the red head swayed against her. Reluctantly Faith pulled back, starving somebody of oxygen who already felt faint was hardly romantic. There would be plenty of time for kisses when Willow's head had healed up a bit better.

"I hope that's not how you plan to reward Buffy too!" Faith quipped at the slightly disappointed looking Willow. The red head instantly cheered up at the joke and shook her head, throwing Faith a shy smile as she did so. Faith was about to tell Willow how good the kiss had felt when a loud and amused voice from behind them caused them both to jump.

"Well that's good to know."

"Jesus Buffy!" Faith exclaimed, "when did you creep in?"

"Whilst you were making out" Xander replied from behind Buffy.

Buffy couldn't help but smirk at the sight in front of her. Faith had been turned away from her and had no idea that Xander was standing with her. The brunette now instantly turned to rest her back against the headboard causing Willow to wobble when she let go. Faith quickly steadied her and helped the red head lean against the headboard too.

"Sorry" Faith grumbled, turning a shade of red but Buffy never dreamed the brunette slayer could go.

"No I'm sorry for walking in without knocking" Buffy admitted. "We just wanted to see if you guys are okay and wanted feeding."

Faith smiled at the mention of food but Willow looked a little horrified that they had been interrupted. Buffy guessed that Willow was worrying about how she and Xander would react to the situation. The red head obviously didn't know that Xander and Faith had cleared things up last night. She wasn't sure what had been said exactly but Buffy could tell by Xander's body language when he left Willow's room that he was relaxed and in a good mood.

"You okay Willow?" Xander chirped up. "You look like a kid who's been caught with their hand in the candy jar!"

Buffy and Faith both smirked at his comment but Willow just looked more confused. Buffy had to resist the urge to laugh and from the smile on Xander's face it was clear that he wanted to laugh too. Willow looked from her to Xander and then at Faith a few times before shaking her head in defeat slightly.

"I'm fine...just a little dizzy" the red head finally replied.

"Well food is usually a universal cure and we have eggs and bacon and hash brown!" Xander informed them cheerfully.

Buffy smirked at Faith as the brunette slayer swiftly rolled of the bed and onto her feet. Even if she was a bit bruised and battered she still had her slayer appetite.

"Whoa there Slayer! Let us mere mortals get a portion first and you can finish the rest!" Xander teased.

Faith glared at him playfully before tugging a dazed Willow out of the bed and virtually holding her up whilst she regained her balance. Willow had her arms tangled around Faith's shoulders and was pressed into the front of the slayer. It was a situation that she was clearly still uncomfortable in because she kept her eyes averted from Buffy and Xander. It made Buffy feel like a bit of an ass for the way their relationship had degraded since Tara's death and Willow's brief foray into the dark side. If they had been on better terms then Willow would have been able to confide in her and perhaps she would have been more accommodating towards Faith and Willow sooner. Or perhaps it would have had the opposite effect; perhaps she would have been even more protective and kept Faith well away from her.

"I'm good" Willow finally stated when her balance returned. "I could really do with some of that food though."


	25. Chapter 25

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Authors Note: I'd just like to say thank you to everyone for being so patient for my last update and I'll try not to make you wait as long again. The reviews were great for chapter 24, this one is a bit of a transitional chapter but I hope you enjoy it just as much xxx **

**Chapter 25**

After eating with the group Willow went straight back to bed. Food had made her feel slightly less dizzy but she was still tired and sore and she felt like she could sleep for a week. Everyone's chatter had been doing her headache no good at all and the fact Faith and Xander now seemed to be getting along only added to the pain that was mounting in her skull. She had no idea what had happened to make the pair of them pals but it made her feel like she had been unconscious for weeks not hours.

She knew she should be pleased really. The infighting and the tension had been frustrating her for days and now it had finally eased. Somehow it just seemed to put her under a different kind of pressure all of a sudden. When Buffy and Xander where against her and Faith's friendship she had rebelled against the pressure because they had no right to tell her who she should like. Now they suddenly approved of Faith the pressure was on her and the brunette slayer to actually get together. That was something that thrilled her and terrified her in equal proportions.

She had broken down some of the barriers between her and Faith without giving it any prior thought this morning. She had been relieved to be alive and grateful for Faith saving her. Add those to the fact she already had strong feelings and it had been a potent mixture. Once she'd had time to reflect back she regretted her actions. It wasn't that she didn't want to kiss Faith; she had wanted to kiss her several times over the last couple of days. It was just such a huge step to take and now it had happened Faith would expect things to move swiftly. Willow wasn't sure she felt ready to move swiftly into a relationship just yet.

It wasn't a new fear she was feeling, it was the same old issue she'd been battling since she had began to be attracted to the brunette. She still couldn't get her head around the idea of moving on from Tara, especially as the only time she'd tried it had been a failed attempt. She hadn't been able to love Kennedy, she had tried, but she could only ever like her and feel slightly attracted to her. If anything Kennedy had chased her until she couldn't be bothered fighting. Faith on the other hand was doing no such thing and was steadily working her way into Willow's heart. It was just like what Tara had done. They had found common ground and built a friendship which had progressed into something wonderful.

The problem lay with her lack of ability to let go of Tara enough to completely give herself to Faith. She hadn't felt the need to do so before dating Kennedy but Faith was Faith and too special and too vulnerable to not treat properly. Faith was risking her heart and probably her sanity by following her feelings and Willow didn't want to hurt the slayer and push her back inside herself.

She was at her wits end trying to figure out how to deal with the situation. Torn between giving into her current feelings or living in the past; she was lying in bed driving herself mad rather than truly resting. She wished more than ever that Tara had never died and that she didn't have this dilemma even if it was a childish thought.

It had been a quiet day at the hotel and everyone had lounged around in their pyjamas. Even Giles had been sat in the living room watching TV in his dressing robe for most of the day. However, once all bar Willow had eaten diner and the sun had started to go down there where things that needed to be taken care off. The rock demon and many of his miniature evil minions had been dealt with but there was still a great big gaping hole in the basement of the warehouse that needed dealing with before workmen turned up on in the morning.

Buffy had planned just to take Giles with her but Faith had insisted on coming even if she was a bit on the battered and bruised side. She wasn't really needed as they were not going to fight but Buffy suspected that Faith was bored sitting around and wanted to see the fireworks. Actually once Buffy had gave it some thought she suspected Faith may be quite an experienced arsonist as the brunette had certainly had a misspent youth.

The drive had been a quiet one apart from random bits of humming by Giles as he drove. Buffy was too tired to find his behaviour amusing and she wasn't sure if Faith even noticed as the brunette spent the whole time gazing out the back window seemingly lost in thought. Buffy wondered if the brunette was replaying the mornings kiss or worrying because Willow had locked herself in her room. The brunette's face was surprisingly blank and unreadable.

Once they pulled up at the warehouse Faith was the first one out and had already opened the trunk by the time Buffy had climbed out herself at a more sedate pace. The brunette stood staring at the wooden crate in the back of the jeep until Giles joined them, torch in hand.

"So what's in the box exactly?" Faith asked, giving the crate an explorative poke.

"A couple of flares and some dynamite" Giles replied before lifting the crate up and thrusting it into Faith's arms.

Buffy watched Faith's expression change from one of wonderment to one of amusement. Then within seconds she was laughing.

"Boom!" she exclaimed, "I expected something less...explosive! I have to ask though, what are the flares for?"

Giles smirked and began to walk into the building. Faith turned on her heels and jogged after him with the box so Buffy followed on behind silently.

"These creatures can't stand light so we're going to clear them from the tunnel they created by sending some flares down" Giles explained as they walked towards the building. The front gate was still open from the night before and the door smashed in so getting into the building was simple. The estate would have been disserted on a Sunday but if anyone had noticed the building had been entered they would have probably put it down to teenage gangs.

"Then we fill the tunnel...boom" Buffy finished of the explanation of the plan even though it was obvious.

Faith turned as she walked and grinned broadly back at her causing Buffy to snicker slightly at the excited look on the brunette slayers face. They began to take the matter more seriously as they entered the building and Giles turned on the heavy duty torch he was carrying. The idea of blowing up the building was fun but at the same time Buffy had a healthy respect for explosives and the damage they could do. It was obvious that underneath Faith's bravado she respected them too because she quietened down the second they stepped inside too. The building was eerily silent again but this time it didn't hold and feeling of threat; it just felt dead. The echoing of their footsteps only signalled their intent rather than the feeling of impending doom like the night before.

Once they were down in the basement it was easy to see the carnage from the night before. Even though Giles and Andrew had thrown the bodies back down the hole there was still inky blood splatter around the room and debris and loose plastic that had been kicked around and scattered during the scuffle. Giles stepped through the debris without breaking stride and the two slayers followed him to the edge of the hole. It was looking down a huge black precipice that went on into eternity. It looked like a tunnel to hell and the thought made Buffy shudder slightly. Since she had been brought back to life and she knew how peaceful heaven was the idea of hell being the exact opposite actually scared her. If hell was as bad as heaven was good then it truly would be eternal damnation and torture.

"How deep do you think it is?" Faith directed her question at Giles.

"I don't know but I wouldn't like to fall into it and find out" Giles admitted. He used his foot to tap a stone down and for a few seconds they could hear it bounce of the sides until it went silent. Like the night before they never heard it hit the bottom. There was a silent pause between them before Giles placed the torch on the floor with a loud clunk.

"Pass me a flare" Giles requested. Faith had the crate in hand so Buffy took out a flare and the flare gun and passed it to Giles. The flare wasn't a necessity but Giles didn't want to massacre the creatures for the hell of it. If light was sent down the tunnel then the creatures would scamper away and back to the cover of darkness. Then when the debris of the building fell into the hole the creatures would not get hurt.

After a few seconds of setting up the flare Giles shot it down into the hole and they all watched in amazement as the light from the flare got smaller and smaller as it went further away. Finally it seemed to stay the same size, about the size of a golf ball, and it looked like it was burning out on the floor at the bottom of the tunnel.

"That really is a big hole" Faith commented. "Now can we blow the place up?"

"Give them a minute to clear out" Giles replied, "I need to ask you a favour anyway."

Faith looked surprised and Buffy was sure that she probably looked surprised or confused too. Usually if Giles had a favour to ask then it was of her but perhaps he was trying to make Faith feel part of the group.

"I need a slayer to come pick up some books with me from a demon I don't really trust tomorrow" he explained. "I'd take Buffy but I know she and Dawn have plans."

Giles had obviously overheard Dawn pestering her at dinner. Her younger sister really wanted to go shopping with her after college and she didn't want to let her down.

"Yeah sure" Faith agreed to the task cheerfully. "I can play security guard."

Giles smiled in response before continuing on with the task at hand. He removed several sticks of dynamite that where wound together by black masking tape.

"According to Xander we need to put this one against the back wall where the foundations have already weakened and the other needs to go by the stairs" Giles informed them. He handed Buffy the dynamite and a lighter and took the box out of Faith's arms and placed it on the floor, before removing another load of dynamite and handing it to the brunette.

"You two are much quicker than I am so give me two minutes to get to the car and turn the engine, on then light them up at the same time and run" he instructed. Both slayers nodded and Giles turned and picked up a small torch from the box before jogging towards the steps and out of sight.

"Do you want the back wall or the stairs?" Buffy asked Faith.

The brunette slayer looked round thoughtfully before pointing her stick of dynamite at the wall. It meant that she was agreeing to the longer sprint which Buffy wasn't going to argue with.

"I'll take the torch and point it towards you."

Faith had to navigate across the debris as speed and even for a slayer doing so in the dark would be perilous. Torch light at ground level would allow Faith to see where she was going and hopefully prevent any accidents whilst the time was ticking down.

"Thanks" Faith replied simply. "I think he's had enough time."

"Yeah he's no slouch" Buffy agreed. He'd had plenty of time to get out to the car by now so Buffy picked up the torch and headed to the stairs. She placed the torch down and angled it across the floor so she could see Faith pretty clearly. It was a powerful torch but the basement room was large so the light was dim. If she didn't have slayer vision then she probably wouldn't have been able to see Faith at all but being an overworked vampire killer had its perks.

"You ready to light up B?" Faith shouted across the room. "I know I am!"

Faith had done a lot of growing up in prison but she was obviously still a rebel at heart. Buffy certainly wasn't as excited by the scenario as the slightly younger brunette.

"Ready" Buffy called back, "In 3-2-1 light up!"

There was a brief silence as Buffy sparked the lighter up and lit the fuse. It worked straight away and she knew Faith's had too as the brunette began to sprint towards her. Within a few long strides Faith had reached her so Buffy scooped up the torch and ran up the stairs, two at a time, with Faith right behind her. She had no idea how long they had to get out the building but she wasn't about to be sluggish and get caught out. She didn't slow at all as she raced across the main floor of the building and practically leapt through the door. As she ran towards Giles jeep which was lined up outside the gateway Faith pulled up alongside her and Buffy realised she was being raced. She couldn't help but grin at Faith's attempt to outrun her so she kicked on and the two reached the car at the same time, both swinging the passenger side doors open and diving in.

"Drive drive!" Buffy yelled, hitting the dashboard with one hand as she closed the front passenger door with the other. Giles instantly put his foot on the gas and Faith had to launch back across the rear seat to close the door before it was ripped off its hinges by the force of the acceleration. They had only got about 300 yards when a loud bang ripped through the air and the jeep was propelled forward even more by the force of the explosion behind them. Buffy looked back in the rear view mirror to see the building collapsing down on itself in a fiery inferno. It was an amazing sight and Buffy couldn't help but laugh with relief that the task had been completed without anyone getting hurt. She was not shocked when Faith began to laugh too but it did surprise her that Giles joined in.

"This feels like old times B!" Faith exclaimed between fits of giggles. She was right; it felt like it did when the two had been a team in Sunnydale before it had all got so messed up. They had made a good team at times then and they had certainly made a good team when required here in Cleveland. This time though Buffy didn't feel the need for jealousy because Faith was no longer the cool newbie that her friends fawned over.

"No it doesn't" Buffy disagreed, "It feels a bit better."

It was quite late when they finally returned to the hotel as they had patrolled for well over two hours. Now the strange rock demon had been slain the vampires seemed to be creeping back out again. It was amazing how quickly they heard or picked up on the fact the threat was over. Faith had learnt in Sunnydale and LA that the demon and vampire community had a pretty good communication network. In fact, some demons were bigger gossips then the tabloids and magazines.

They had let Xander know that everything had gone okay at the warehouse so everyone had gone to bed. Buffy and Giles headed straight to their rooms but Faith was too eager to see Willow to go back to her room and shower first. She didn't think Willow would mind if she showered in the red heads room and borrowed some of her pyjamas.

She presumed that Willow would be asleep so she didn't bother knocking and just quietly slipped into the room. The red head was not asleep though and was sat up in bet with her lamp on reading a spell book.

"Hey" Faith greeted softly.

"Oh...hi" Willow greeted offhandedly, showing far more interest in the book than Faith.

Faith was a little set back by Willow's less than friendly greeting. She wasn't expecting her to jump her or anything but she'd have liked a sign that the red head had missed her or even wanted to see her.

"How's your head?" she asked, hoping to get more of a reaction.

"Alright" Willow replied without looking away from her book.

"Have I done something wrong?" she felt childish for asking but she could tell something was up.

She finally got a response out of Willow though because the red head slammed the book down on her bed, totally losing her page.

"Can you just give me a break?" Willow snapped at her. "My head hurts; my mind hurts for god's sake! I just need time to think!"

For a few moments Faith didn't know how to react to Willow's angry outburst. She wanted to try and be mature and just step away from the situation but her anger overtook her slightly.

"**You** kissed me" she pointed out irritably, not caring how immature it probably sounded. "You kissed me...I am not pushing you so why don't you man up and not just push me away every time you get scared. I don't know what to do...I don't know what you want me to do...You just push and pull and push and pull and I'm not exactly a love guru so I have no idea what hell to do. God it is was easier just skrewing strangers!"

Part of her rant had probably been constructive, if not a little loudly spoken; the last part however was far from constructive. She'd just been a total ass and the second the words left her mouth she regretted them. She knew she needed to leave and fast before she did any more damage.

"I'm sorry" she forced out, "I think you're right...I think you're too good for me."

She didn't want to hear Willow's reply; she just wanted the red head to know that she understood. So without further ado she turned on her heels and walked quickly but dignifiedly out the room and she didn't stop walking until she was safely inside the privacy of her own room. Once there she threw herself on the bed and the tears began to pour even though she despised crying. It was going to be a long and restless night.

**Authors note numero 2: I know it's a bit of a low after the last chapter guys but Willow was never going to adjust easily. I will pick up again very soon I promise!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 26**

There was no way Willow was going to hang round all day in her pyjamas again especially when she'd woken up headache free. Most of the other scoobies would be in work or college on a Monday morning so she only expected Faith and Chloe to be hanging around the hotel. Seeing the brunette slayer after being a bitch to her the night before would be awkward but Willow knew she needed to apologise and quickly before the slayer closed of emotionally again.

The second Faith had stormed out the room Willow had burst into tears and had cried for well over half an hour. She was upset with some of what Faith had said but mainly she was just upset with her own behaviour. She used to pride herself on being constantly nice but nothing about the way she handled Faith was nice last night. Having tore herself up thinking about Tara all afternoon and evening and missing her terribly she had thrown herself into an activity that was very much a Tara thing. She'd spent a couple of hours learning simple spell techniques. It was the kind of material Tara had always tried to get her to read but she had rushed ahead and got herself in all kinds of trouble. She was just trying to do something Tara would approve of but she was damn sure that the sweet and sensitive Tara would not agree with the way she spoke to Faith if she could hear her.

It was past ten am by the time she'd showered and dressed into comfy jeans and an old Disney t-shirt. Her first port of call was the kitchen as she had skipped dinner the night before and was now starving. To her surprise the room was empty and there was no sign of Chloe hustling about and working in there. She had left Willow a note on the fridge though informing her that there where muffins in the fridge. Two blueberry muffins to be exact which Willow managed to stuff down her within five minutes before making her way to the lounge. She could hear cartoons on the TV so she presumed Faith was sat in there but when she entered she realised that it was a different brunette reclining on the sofa.

"Xander? Shouldn't you be in work?" she asked. He leant his head back on the armrest so he could see her and waved with his uninjured arm.

"I have the week off because of my arm" he explained. "How about you, how's the head?"

"Better thanks" "Do you know where Faith is?"

"In Boston with Giles for the day" Xander replied slowly. "Is everything okay because I'd have expected you to know that?"

Willow moved away from the doorway and towards Xander. He instantly sat up so she could slip into the space next to him and she leant against the back of the sofa and sighed. He was right of course, she should have known that but she was too busy being stupid last night for Faith to tell her anything.

"Having problems?" he asked, quirking an eye up as he spoke.

She hadn't really talked to Xander about her problems in months but now was as good a time as any to start. He had after all lost someone he cared about too. So, taking a deep sigh to steady herself, she broached the topic with him.

"Why haven't you dated anyone since Sunnydale?" she hoped he didn't mind her being so direct.

"A few different reasons I guess" he replied thoughtfully. "I haven't had time, I haven't had the energy, and I'm not in a situation where I get to meet many new people and..."

He paused and took a deep breath, obviously finding it hard to think and talk about the subject. Willow wondered if it was fair of her to spring a conversation about Anya on him; it probably would have been more considerate to just talk about her own situation.

"...and I feel like I left a little piece of my heart in Sunnydale" he continued. "It's hard to look past the fact that Anya died without us ever really sorting our problems out. I mean we could have been happily married and I wonder if things would have turned out differently if I hadn't ran scared when I should have been walking down the aisle."

Her heart went out to him because she understood exactly how he felt. It was strange to think that the pair of them had been suffering with the same guilt and hurt all this time and they had never spoke to each other about it. She had made herself fairly inaccessible to him though and like the others he was obviously confused as to whether she was the same old Willow or not after she had gone all black and veiny. This was all in the past though and they had a chance to reconnect now and go back to being Willow and Xander the goofy best friends.

"I always wonder if Tara would have died if I hadn't been so stupid because if we hadn't broken up then we wouldn't have been...catching up upstairs when Warren turned up."

She wished that her voice didn't quiver so much as she admitted that to him. He had remained composed and explained how he felt very evenly but she sounded like a lost and frightened child. Xander gave her a sympathetic look and stretched his good arm across the back of the sofa and around her shoulders so he was giving her a light hug.

"I was watching repeats on the TV the other week of really dodgy old sci-fi shows and there was this great quote in one of them" he mused. "_Regret is part of being alive...but keep it a small part_."

Okay she was going to scratch the theory of them being goofy friends and change it to geeky friends. Trust Xander to come up with a quote from the TV to try and put a situation into perspective. At least it wasn't from the Whacky Races or some other cartoon and to his credit it was relative.

"I think it's true because everyone suffers loss and everyone has things they regret. We are doomed to suffer it more than most with what we do. There is one thing I wouldn't change for the world though and that's the scoobies. If time got turned back I would still be your friend and I would still follow Buffy to the end even knowing the heartache that could follow. Otherwise what would I be Willow? Just a construction worker? Even if the rest of the world just see's me as the lowly guy on a building site I know better and I'm proud of that."

She smiled warmly at his wise words. As his best friend she would never have thought of him as just a construction worker if Buffy hadn't come along but she could understand what he was saying. Their friendship with Buffy had drawn them into the world of vampire and demon slaying but it wasn't just friendship that tied them there. Now that they had seen what was out there they could never stop fighting it even if something terrible happened to Buffy. They had carried on patrolling and slaying to the best of their abilities when she had died even though it wasn't the same without her. She may have been the slayer but they had all played their part at one time or the other. Willow had even been the enemy once before Xander had brought her back again.

"You're a hero Xander" Willow pointed out, "you saved the world remember?"

He didn't reply verbally, his only response was to drop a kiss onto her temple before hugging her tighter. She leant into him completely and hugged him back for nearly a minute before he finally pulled back. They settled into a comfortable silence and Willow began to watch the Roadrunner cartoon on the TV.

"You're struggling moving on from Tara" Xander suddenly stated. "Faith said you were struggling the other night but I'd presumed you were managing okay after I walked in on you two smooching."

She nodded as she continued to watch the cartoon but then swung her head round to look at him when she truly digested what he had said. He must have seen her confusion because he chuckled slightly. She didn't know when or why Faith had confided in him about her and it was a shock to hear about. Was this why they were suddenly so friendly?

"I came in to check on you after I got back from the hospital and we talked" Xander explained. "She really likes you, you know that right? In fact I think she might even be in love with you which is kind of odd 'cos it's Faith for crying out loud!"

Now she knew why he and Faith were friendly. Xander had watched Faith not only save her life but care for her afterwards and Willow had no doubt that the brunette slayer had probably been frantic. Xander had doubted Faith's intentions until that night and once he realised how much she cared then he eased up on the Faith hating. It also meant that Faith had taken a big step and admitted her feelings to someone else. Perhaps it was time Willow 'manned up' and did the same.

"I think she is" Willow finally agreed, "The problem is I think I might be in love with her too."

"Ah" Xander responded, obviously understanding just how complicated Willow found that simple fact. "There are worse problems to have Will and it's the kind of problem you can over think."

"Oh I'm definitely over thinking!" she admitted.

It was like he had x-ray vision and had been watching her through the hotel walls as she moped. Either that or he was just speaking from experience; although she didn't think he's liked anyone since Anya. The only girl she'd seen him pay any attention to was Chloe but he was just a friendly guy. Or she could have missed something and he liked Chloe...oh god he liked Chloe. She felt stupid for missing it now but she decided not to pester him for now. It was a topic for another day.

"I think we should all go out and have some fun tomorrow night and you should try letting go a little" Xander declared, clasping his hands together with a bang. "You never know Will it might get you a long way!"

She wasn't sure if he was being dirty or not until she saw his eyebrows raise suggestively. He was definitely still good at cheering her up and she began to giggle. Deciding to let go a bit right now and enjoy herself she tugged out the cushion from behind her and whacked him over the head with hit.

"Oh you don't want to do that" he warned.

She paid no attention to his threat and whacked him again. Suddenly he had a pillow in hand too and he delivered a swift blow to the side of her.

"Oh it's war!" he declared before leaping of the sofa and getting into a really bad ninja pose.

When Faith had agreed to go with Giles to pick up the books she hadn't realised she was going to Boston. She'd have gone anyway no doubt but the idea was still giving her chills even as they were driving Massachusetts Avenue and into the city centre. She had planned never to go back their; it was a city she associated with misery...her misery. She had been born there, scraped and rebelled there, watched her mother die there and she had lost her mentor and watcher there. Boston had been such a bleak place in the end that she had ran to Sunnydale to find the other slayer her watcher had always spoke of.

"Do you know where Harvard Bridge is?" Giles asked. "Apparently the demon resides off Commonwealth Avenue between Boston University and the bridge."

"In Brookline Fenway?" she answered. She wasn't surprised to find that's where they were headed because there had always been a lot of activity around the university. There had always been more around Boston than Harvard University because most of the students at Harvard where stuck up and far too hardworking for Faith's liking. Silly drunken students made easy targets and she'd spent many a night patrolling around Boston Campus with her watcher.

"Yeah that's right" Giles replied, his eyes never leaving the road ahead of them. "Apparently there is a guy that owns a bar there who has a demon friendly bar and some accommodation in the basement and old unused sewer systems underneath."

Faith grimaced as there was nothing she hated more than demon friendly humans. She was aware that her opinion seemed a little black and white but it was just a generalisation. It was different if the demon was like Lorne because he was a human friendly demon and obviously vampires with souls could be pretty descent sometimes. The kind of demons and vampires this bar owner let in where certainly not guaranteed to be human friendly.

"You're coming up to Harvard Bride now so we're nearly there" Faith spoke up as the Charles River came into sight. It was nearly midday so the sunlight glanced of the river and glass buildings to spectacular effect. Giles nodded and continued scanning the area around him as he drove. Faith wondered if he had even been in Boston before because he seemed curious about his surroundings. It wasn't a particularly busy day so they got over the bridge and onto Commonwealth pretty quickly. They crept down the Avenue until Giles started gesturing to the right.

"That's it!" he declared, "the Leviathan."

It was a weird looking bar because the front of it looked quite inviting but there was a wide but dingy alley to the side of it with a car parked down it already. This is where Giles turned down and he pulled in behind the residing blue Ford. There was a keep out sigh on the side of the bar that looked decidedly ominous but she was more interested in the strange name of the building.

"Odd name" Faith commented as she climbed out the passenger seat and wandered round to his side of the jeep. He turned the key in the lock and the automatic locking system made a pleasant clicking sound.

"It's a biblical sea demon" he raised his head and smirked at her before heading off down the shadowy alley.

"Subtle" she commented to herself. She quickened her pace as she followed him towards the heavy metal door situated at the end of the alleyway and down some steps. By the time they had reached the door she had caught him up.

There was no bell or door handle and it could clearly only be opened from the inside so Giles rapped firmly on the door three times with his fist. She could faintly hear the sound of music through the door with her acute hearing but she suspected the door and walls were designed to be soundproof. Obviously the proprietor didn't want to risk anyone finding his underground freak show bar.

After a few seconds she could hear the very faint sound of footsteps and the door opened slightly causing rock music to ring out into the air around them. A face appeared in the shadow of the ajar door and Faith knew instantly it was a vampire from his incredibly pallid complexion.

"We're here to see Gasparus" Giles stated, "He's expecting us."

The black haired vampire eyed them up slightly, obviously suspicious of them, before stepping back away from the doorway.

"Follow me" he instructed quietly.

Faith stepped through the doorway first and Giles followed in her footsteps, letting the door swing shut firmly behind him. Now they were in the artificial light of a hallway Faith could see that the vampire was no older than sixteen and quite weedy. In fact he looked practically sick he was that pale which meant he wasn't feeding enough. Her attention turned from the vampire to the room the hall opened up into. It wasn't a huge room but there was enough space for an attractive wooden bar, a pool table, a large TV and several tables and seats. There was a Kailiff demon serving behind the bar and several other demons over by the TV playing a racing game on a Playstation. Two vampires were playing pool and there were other demons scattered around the tables. One demon, a malformed looking creature with pink and peeling skin sat by the bar sipping on a cocktail.

"Gasparus" their young tour guide greeted the creature by the bar, "guests."

Gasparus bowed his head to the vampire and stood, vigorously shaking hands with Giles and then Faith in the process. Giles opened his mouth to speak but the creature began gesturing for them to follow him with his drink free hand. They followed him out of a door next to the toilets which led to a more dingy looking tunnel that had obviously once been an access point to the sewer system. Off this tunnel were several closed doors on both sides with numbers painted on them. Gasparus stopped by number eight and fumbled a key out of the breast pocket of his lumberjack style shirt. Faith watched with interest as he unlocked the door and swung it open to reveal a neat but cluttered apartment.

The room they entered into was a lounge, study and library all mixed into one with a small kitchen area in the front right corner. There was a door at the back that obviously led to where the creature slept. Gasparus made his was to his desk and picked up a heavy looking package which was sitting next to his computer.

"It was wise of you to collect these and not have them posted" Gasparus commented. "I was unsure why any human would want them until now."

"Enlighten us" Giles replied as politely as he could muster.

"Strong grip" he explained, directing a look at Faith. "A slayer no doubt? Not Buffy as I've heard she's a blonde so you must be Faith."

When Giles didn't answer Gasparus placed the books back down on his desk and sat in the leather executive chair positioned behind it. He spun round a couple of times whilst the two stood watching him, trying to gage the creature's mood and stance. Finally he stopped spinning and pushed the chair sideways with his feet so he had a better view of them.

"I'm a business man Mr Giles and we had a business arrangement" he stated. "I hope you've brought the money we agreed on and are not planning to beat me into giving you them for nothing?"

Giles reached into his tweed coat pocket and pulled out a white envelope. It was just the right size to contain notes and it was clearly full of them as it was thick and bulging.

"Four hundred dollars" Giles waved the envelope. "I want to see the goods though so unwrap them and I'll come and view them. Faith will stay where she is I assure you."

Gasparus seemed to accept this and he stood and untied the string of the parcel, letting the paper fall open. Giles moved swiftly across the room to the desk and flicked through both the large leather covered books that had been revealed to them. He seemed satisfied with the books so Gasparus tied the parcel back up and they exchanged the parcel and the envelope. The creature opened the envelope and flicked his fingers across the notes clearly calculating how much it contained.

"Fabulous" he finally declared, "I'll show you out!"

Faith and Giles followed him out of his room and back through the bar. Most of the occupants showed no interest in them except for the young vampire who had let them in. Once they were in the hallway again Gasparus spoke up.

"Don't mind Peter" he said casually. "He somehow retained his soul when he was bitten so now he's just a frightened immortal boy with no appetite for what will sustain him. We feed him pigs' blood but at such an early stage of conversion he needs human blood to make him strong. That's why he looks so sickly."

"He lives here?" Giles asked as they stopped just inside the front door.

"Yes there are twelve of us that live here" Gasparus confirmed. "We don't really fit in anywhere else because we're not human but we're not after any trouble. So the bar and my ancient text and artefact business enable us to rent this space of the owner. His daughter was turned into a vampire and I helped her regain her soul. As a reward he allowed us to rent this space of him for virtually nothing. Jenna, his daughter, lives in room ten."

Faith knew she wasn't doing very well at holding her surprise in. She had been quick to judge the situation and it turned out that these demons and vampires were not evil. This place was sheltered accommodation for demons in need.

"Well goodbye" Gasparus said softly as he opened the door for them. "Have a safe journey home."

Faith strode back up the steps and into the alley followed by Giles. He looked as surprised by the development as she was and they both reached the jeep in silence. Giles placed the package on the back seat and climbed into the driver's seat.

"That was educational" he commented as he started the car. "I expected more trouble than that."

"Why was it wise that we collected the books?" Faith had been curios ever since Gasparus had said it in his basement apartment.

"One contains information on very dark magic and the other is an ancient compendium of some very nasty demons" Giles explained as he began to drive. "It wouldn't be wise to let them fall into the wrong hands."

It was a little unnerving that they had just paid a mere $400 for such sensitive texts and Faith wondered if Gasparus would have sold them to anybody. Perhaps he wasn't quite so sugar coated as he'd just put himself across.

"Actually I have a job proposal for you if you're interested?" Giles spoke up again after a few minutes. "I want to collate and document these ancient texts I'm collecting. Willow has offered to set up a database and help when she can but I need someone to help me and Andrew in the shop and of course with the database."

She was shocked that he was offering her a job and even more shocked that it was one that would involve him trusting her with some very dark reading material. Perhaps there was something in that material that would help Willow in her attempts to bring herself back from the brink of darkness. It more likely than not the books would show no interest in recovery only in the accumulation of more power. They were probably really stupid books wrote by really crazy, slobbering, power mad people.

"I was only thinking about three days a week" Giles added in, obviously misinterpreting her silence as indecisiveness. "You'll be paid a wage and it will look good on your CV should you ever apply for a job somewhere else."

"Ha!" Faith snorted, "ex con in need of work, hasn't murdered anyone for a while...yeah that'll be a CV to drool over!"

_God bless him_ she thought, could he really think that anyone other than a scoobie would employ her now. She had no grades, no prior work experience and a pretty off putting criminal record. About the only job she'd get with her CV was a role as an assassin and if the employer had any sense they'd knock her back because she'd been caught once already. Nope she was totally unemployable.

"Is that a yes?" Giles asked curiously.

He tilted his head so that he could see her as well as the road. She brushed her hair out of her face and laughed.

"I got to quite like books whilst I was locked up so yeah Giles that's a yes," she replied throatily as she continued chuckling.

She was trying to keep cool but she was actually quite excited by the prospect of being of use to him and the gang. She was worried that she'd just end up being the one that just sat there with nothing to do all day but now she had something to focus on.

"Excellent!" he declared uncharacteristically cheerfully. "Excellent!"

**Authors Note: Don't shout at me! I know there is no Willow and Faith interaction but I'm bedding Faith down into the group and moving Willow towards a happy place. You wouldn't like the story as much if I rushed :-s**


	27. Chapter 27

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Starting to near the end of the road now guys **** Only a few chapters left before this will be a completed fanficion. I'm going to take this opportunity to cheekily ask for people to review, especially if you haven't reviewed before because I really do like getting feedback. Thank all x**

**Chapter 27**

Buffy and Dawn had been home for about half an hour when Faith and Giles arrived back from their trip to Boston. In that half an hour the slayer had sat quietly in the seat and watched Willow, Andrew, Dawn, Chloe and Xander take turns against each other on the playstation. Andrew and Xander who played on it loads where hammering the girls at the fighting game but Willow, Chloe and Dawn seemed to be enjoying themselves none the less.

She hadn't been quite because she was annoyed or bored; in fact it was quite the opposite. She'd not seen them all have so much fun together for a long time. Willow seemed to be in a great mood and was loud and ditsy and over excited. The way Willow and Xander interacted reminded her of being back in high school when everything was so much simpler; even if she had thought the situation with Angel was the end of the world at the time.

Everyone was being so loud and cheerful that Giles and Faith looked really confused as they entered. In fact Buffy instantly knew something was up between Faith and Willow because the brunette looked kind of put out that Willow looked so happy even if she didn't say as much. Any awkwardness was avoided when Chloe leapt up from the floor between the sofa and the TV.

"Can I have some help setting the table up and carrying stuff through?" she asked cheerfully, "the food is on low in the oven so it's ready."

Everyone began to shuffle out into the dining room and kitchen and set about organising the table and within minutes they were all sat around and tucking into pie and chips. If Buffy had expected it to be awkward between Willow and Faith she was wrong because the red head sat herself down next to Faith like normal. Giles and Faith led most of the conversation during the main course; telling everyone about their trip to Boston and the odd set up they had found there. Once Giles had finished his explanation about the books Willow burst into life.

"Well me and Xander think we should all go out to The Seven, you know that cool bar by the park, tomorrow night" Willow suggested.

"Yeah we all need to hang out and let loose after last week!" Xander added cheerfully.

Dawn squeaked in excitement and everyone else around the table voiced their approval. Even Giles seemed to think it was a good idea although he didn't say if he was going to go to the bar or not. Buffy suspected that he may well send them all off and stay at home in peace. Faith seemed to approve of the idea and Buffy was sure that the brunette slayer would love The Seven because it was a great place to unwind by just dancing all night. The music was pretty good too, none of this r'n'b rubbish, just good quality rock music.

Once they had all finished eating Xander volunteered to help Chloe clear up and the others piled through into the lounge. Willow was the only one that didn't join them and she headed straight for her room. Buffy was surprised that Faith didn't follow her but instead the brunette slumped down on the sofa next to Dawn who was flicking through a magazine.

"I think I'm going to get an early night" Giles said from the doorway. "I've had a long day."

Everyone said goodnight except for Faith who looked distracted and thoughtful. The brunette seemed to be finding her own hands very fascinating as she fiddled with the bottom of her vest top.

"You okay Faith?" Buffy asked as she sat on the sofa opposite her. The brunette's head shot up at the sound of her own name.

"Yeah" she replied, "am I okay missing out on patrol tonight 'cos I'm pretty whacked B?"

It was unusual for a slayer to admit up to being tired; especially one as hardcore and stubborn as Faith. Buffy suspected that the brunette may be feeling emotionally drained rather that physically exhausted and she could really sympathise with that.

"No problem" she assured Faith.

"Thanks B" Faith seemed grateful. The brunette rose to her feet without ceremony and headed out the lounge, only stopping to reply to Xander who said 'goodnight' to her.

Refreshed after her shower and dressed in cute Minnie Mouse pyjamas Willow sat on her bed and dried her hair. She had been disappointed when Faith had not followed her to the room but not wholly surprised. She had told the brunette to give her space and that was exactly what Faith seemed to be doing. The problem was that after chatting to Xander and getting some perspective on her little blip yesterday she didn't actually want space.

She had some making up to do to Faith but she had to be careful not to rush. She had been making a mistake in the way she was dealing with the situation up until now. It had seemed like the next logical step in their relationship to kiss. They had sort of admitted their feelings to one another without talking about it too deeply and that was not good enough. Both had issues surrounding relationships and that needed to be addressed before they got physical. It was time for a couple of baby steps to help make the big leap a little less scary. So with that in mind she threw a dressing gown on and headed back to the lounge to find the brunette slayer.

The first people she saw or arrival was Chloe and Dawn who where all sat on the sofa's watching TV. Xander and Andrew were sat around the table reading a construction magazine and a computer magazine respectively. Neither Giles of Faith were anywhere in the lounge.

"Hey" Dawn greeted when she realised Willow was in the door way. "Want to come watch The Simpson's with us?"

As appealing as spending some quality time and rebuilding some bridges with the others sounded she really needed to find Faith and prioritize tonight. She'd had fun with the others earlier in the evening and there was plenty of time tomorrow for spending some quality time with them.

"I think I'm gonna call it a night even though it's early" Willow replied softly. "Do you know where Faith is?"

Dawn looked at Willow blankly and it was obvious he younger member of the Summers family hadn't notice Faith leave the lounge. Willow wondered if Faith was even in the building, it was pretty likely that Buffy and her where of slaying somewhere.

"She went down to her room," Xander spoke up from behind his magazine. "I think her and Giles are exhausted because they shied of patrolling tonight."

It wasn't like Faith to shy of patrolling or go to bed before nine so she was either incredibly tired or upset. The red head knew which of the two was the most likely.

"I'm sure she'll still be awake Will if you want to talk to her" Xander encouraged.

Willow regarded her friend for a couple of seconds and he just smiled back sweetly. Twenty four hours ago she wouldn't believe someone if they told her Xander was going to encourage her to get with Faith. Yet here they where, in full view of several other Scoobies, and Xander was definitely encouraging her.

"Yeah I think I'll do that" she smiled at her childhood friend. "See you in the morning."

A chorus of goodnights echoed around the room which made it clear to Willow that everyone had been eavesdropping on her and Xander's short conversation. Not that it was a private conversation but it meant that obviously her and Faith's 'relationship' was still interesting to everyone. She wasn't as bothered by their interest now as she had been in the days before. Things suddenly seemed to be dropping into place when they hadn't really before.

With a renewed feeling of purpose she trotted off down the stairs to the basement and as she reached the bottom step she heard the sound of the punch bag being used in the gym. She popped her head around the doorway and found that Faith was putting herself through the paces. It didn't look like Faith was too concerned with where she was hitting on the punch bag, she was just hitting hard and fast, probably to improve fitness...or let off steam. There was high chance that Faith was trying to de-stress after the way Willow had treated her the night before. It was a possibility that Willow felt guilty about but at the same time the brunette did look totally amazing. She was wearing her jeans but had discarded of her vest top and was just wearing a black and red bra. Willow decided to take the initiative and speak to Faith or she'd risk looking like a voyeur if she was caught ogling her.

"Hey" she called out softly, not wanting to startle the brunette.

Faith stopped what she was doing immediately and turned to face Willow. It gave Willow a great view of Faith's bra clad chest and her eyes naturally wandered there before she quickly averted her attention back up to the brunettes. Faith quirked an eyebrow at her obvious approval and she knew she was blushing because she could feel the heat growing in her face. This wasn't the way she had planned on broaching the topic of the night before.

"Sorry" she stuttered. "I wanted...wanted to speak to you...about last night."

She'd thought long and hard about what she was going to say to Faith but one look at the brunette and totally throw her. Suddenly the words seemed to be getting mixed up and leaking away, causing her to stutter horrendously. It wasn't really normal for her to stutter anymore, it had been normal when she was a teenager. Back then a stutter was followed by about three minutes worth of nonsense babble though.

"Okay" Faith agreed. "Can we do it in my room? I could do with a shower."

The second the words left her mouth she cringed at what they could imply. Willow knew she hadn't meant them in a sexual kind of way but it was kind of funny to watch Faith's facial expression change so quickly. The brunette slayer was absolutely kicking herself.

"That didn't come out the way I wanted it too" Faith giggled nervously.

"I know" Willow smirked. She decided not to wait and took the initiative by leading the way towards Faith's room and just letting herself in, holding the door open for the brunette. Faith had lagged behind a bit to put her vest top back on, quietly followed Willow into the room and then sat herself against the edge of her dresser which was opposite the bed. Willow decided to sit on the foot of the bed so she was facing Faith and only a few feet away.

"I'm sorry about last night" she began confidently before going downhill. "I'd got myself in a mess over thinking things all day and I just went...weird...like really weird. I really am sorry...I shouldn't have snapped at you like that...or spoke to you like that...or acted like that. I just...I just...I'm just...erm...I hadn't figured out how to be around you."

Faith sat silently on the edge of the dresser with a look of sheer confusion on her face. Willow wasn't sure if it was because she'd rushed the speech and Faith didn't understand most of it or if it just didn't make sense.

"Okay let me try that again" she sighed. "I like you, honestly I really do. I've been thinking about trying to move onto the next stage with you and I had presumed that to do that we had to kiss and stuff. Then when I did kiss you I kind of freaked a bit. I've realised though that I'm trying to take big steps when I need to take small ones."

"Okay" Faith encouraged, her eyes suddenly brightening. "I can do small steps."

It was a relief to see Faith excepting her apology and her reasoning so easily. She'd expected that it would take a little more eyelash bashing and pleading.

"Good...great!" Willow said cheerfully. She was amazed how well Faith was handling everything. The brunette slayer continued to surprise her with how tolerant she was being. Prison had helped her find a way of channelling her frustration and aggression out. She'd witnessed her channelling it several times on the punch bag in the gym.

"Willow?" Faith had leant closer whilst she'd been deep in thought and was watching her intently. Willow tried to speak but found herself just mouthing 'what' as she tried to ignore the urge to kiss the brunette again. She'd sworn to herself that she'd take careful baby steps and she was going to stick to it.

"Erm...What are the small steps?" Faith asked quietly.

It was a really good question and one that showed Faith was putting real thought into what Willow was saying. The slayer sounded so nervous though that Willow creased up immediately causing Faith to chuckle nervously too.

"I suppose that's pretty useful information," Willow admitted when her laughter had finally subsided. "I think we should treat tomorrow night like a date. I know the others are there too so it'll be a relaxed date but it'll be a date and we'll be dating...we are dating...If you want to be?"

She watched Faith's features change from a thoughtful stare to a pleased smirk. Suddenly the brunette stepped forward from the dresser and knelt in front of her. This meant that Faith's face came to a halt within five inches of hers.

"That's perfect" Faith declared, before kissing Willow softly on the forehead. "I'm going to go get a shower now if you don't mind; I have to be up early in the morning."

Faith pulled away and stood up leaving Willow sat staring forward where the brunette's face had just been. It wasn't easy to get her breathing back down to a normal level when she was now looking straight at Faith's vest covered abs. She looked up at the slayers face and tried to concentrate on what she had just said; something about showers and getting up early.

"Why?" Willow breathlessly asked, causing Faith to smirk again.

"I'm working in the shop with Giles," the brunette explained. "He wants me to help him catalogue some of his books starting from tomorrow."

Willow was really pleased that Faith would now have a job especially because it meant that she had Giles full seal of approval. Faith seemed to have a spring in her step about it too as she bounced around the room looking for nightwear and towels.

"That's great" Willow declared as Faith wandered past her, "that's really great Faith."

"Well it's nice to feel like I'm contributing in some way" the brunette admitted.

Faith stopped in the doorway between her bedroom and her bathroom and regarded Willow. For a second Willow thought Faith was going to say something deep but then the brunette smirked mischievously. Then before Willow could ask what she was thinking Faith pulled the vest top over her head and tossed it at her. The top landed over Willow's head and face causing her to screech in shock. Then as she pulled it off her head the top was replaced by a pair of jeans. Willow burst into a fit of giggles as she pulled the sweaty denims away from her face only to see a flash of socks heading her way. This time she was quick enough to duck and one sailed over her head and the other only reached her lap.

"Faith!" Willow screeched, "I'm not your laundry basket!"

There was a chuckle from Faith and Willow looked up just to see the underwear clad slayer backing away into the bathroom before closing the door. Amused and slightly turned on by the slayers antics, Willow quickly put Faith's dirty clothes in the actual laundry basket before settling down into the bed to wait for the brunette.

Faith had showered and changed as quickly as she possibly could. She expected to find Willow sat around waiting for her but instead the red head was curled up under the covers. She was obviously fast asleep as she was breathing heavily. It was something that Faith had noticed whilst she'd watched her sleep a couple of times. The red head would breathe really heavily for a bit, pause and then she'd sigh. She'd found it cute then and she found it cute now even if a sleeping Willow meant she couldn't turn her hairdryer on and dry her hair. She loathed going to bed with wet hair because it went really frizzy overnight but there was no way she was going to wake Willow up. So she tried to towel dry her hair as much as possible before tying it back into a loose ponytail.

Once she was finished and her hair was just damp she climbed into bed next to the sleeping red head. Apart from the first night Willow had stayed in her room they seemed to have slept on the same side of the bed and tonight was no different. Willow slept on the right side which was nearest the door in Faith's room and nearest the window in Willow's.

These little routines and observations didn't feel like they were coming from someone who was only going on her first date tomorrow night but their relationship seemed to be unfolding in a weird order. Not that Faith could blame Willow for her hesitations and issues, she was pretty sure she'd be royally screwed up if she'd witnessed the love of her life die. She remembered what it was like when she had to sit and watch her mum slip away. It had been inevitable and painful and it was something Faith would never forget.

Memories of the pain caused by her mother's death were one of the reasons she tried not to get frustrated with Willow. She wanted to understand that issue just like she understood how it felt to have killed another human being. She'd heard somebody say once that relationships were built on understanding and trust. She trusted Willow and she presumed and hoped that the red head trusted her. So surely the basis for their relationship was really solid despite Willow's nerves? It wasn't like Faith herself was totally nerve free after all. She'd never had an actual relationship in her life so she had plenty of reasons to take things slowly too.

Now Faith knew she was starting to over think the situation too, just like Willow had admitted to doing. So to prevent any further over analytic thoughts she turned her focus to the sleeping figure next to her. If she couldn't get to sleep herself then it would relaxing just to watch Willow sleep. She'd discovered last time she'd watched her sleep that her breathing began to match the sleeping red heads until she eventually drifted of herself.


	28. Chapter 28

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 28**

Faith had woken up when her alarm went off at 7.30am and was mildly amused to find Willow still asleep. Faith had never considered herself to be a light sleeper but there was no way she could sleep through an alarm. She made the decision not to wake the sleeping red head as Willow had nothing she needed to be up this early for. It had felt strange creeping around her room and getting ready in silence but she was kind of pleased with herself for achieving her aim.

Once out of the room she headed down to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. She had expected to see Giles and Andrew up and about but the only person she found in the kitchen was Chloe.

"Do you ever sleep?" Faith asked, making the blonde jump. "Every time I walk in here you seem to be cooking or cleaning."

"It is my job Faith" Chloe replied, "you and Buffy slay, the others help and I feed you all...I'm like the group mother or something!"

The blonde was huddled over the cooker busy flipping some kind of fruit pancakes. Faith knew they were not blueberry pancakes but still couldn't quite place the smell; it was some sort of berry though. Whatever the fruit was the food smelt great and caused Faith's stomach to growl.

"Hungry?" Chloe smirked.

Faith nodded in response as Chloe began to pile up the cooked pancakes onto a plate. Once it was virtually full she handed it to Faith who began to pig out on them. They were strawberry pancakes and they were delicious. She was about half way through the pile when Giles entered the kitchen and quite literally scooped a handful of pancakes of the plate.

"Hey!" Faith exclaimed, watching in horror as he began to eat them. "Get your own pancakes!"

Giles just smiled sweetly and carried on eating his loot. Faith scowled at him but short of beating him up there was nothing she could do about it really.

"Andrew is going to follow on" Giles informed her between mouthfuls of pancake. "So if you are ready to make a move then I'll drive us down there?"

Faith grabbed a couple more pancakes before jumping to her feet. She was surprised how eager she was about actually going to work. It could be because she was in a good mood after clearing the air with Willow last night or perhaps it was just because she was genuinely excited to get the chance to prove herself to everyone. No one doubted her ability to kill demons and vampires; she was probably even more efficient than Buffy in that respect. She doubted anyone saw her as a genuine leader who commanded respect or as a useful member of society... apart from Willow of course and possibly Giles. Well she was going to start proving her doubters wrong and those that were showing her support right.

Faith followed Giles to the car in silence because she was lost in her own thoughts and it wasn't until they were underway that she focussed on him.

"So made any plans about what to do with your pay?" he asked pleasantly.

Faith followed Giles stare forward at the road and thought for a few seconds. She hadn't really considered it before now but she could instantly think of a few ideas.

"Well I want to get my driving license" she replied, "and a few more clothes would be nice!"

Giles chuckled in response but was concentrating on pulling across the road to park down the side of his shop. It wasn't an easy task in the heavy morning traffic and it took him several minutes before he could finally manoeuvre across, massively irking the drivers queued up behind him. Once parked up he turned the engine off but made no move to get out the jeep. He took his glasses of and cleaned them using his sleeve, something he did when he was nervous, frustrated or about to ask something personal.

"I don't like getting involved in any of your personal lives and I don't want to seem like I'm interfering" Giles started to make a speech. Faith knew she was probably smirking at him but she was quite impressed by how well she'd managed to read his actions.

"Obviously everyone has noticed that you and Willow are close and you've been helping her and she's been helping you. I've noticed a definite improvement in Willow's mood and temperament which is great, fantastic in fact. The only thing that worries me is her delicate mental state. Now I know she's strong but she's been through a lot and there is only so much any one person can take. What I want to ask is...well are you ready for a relationship Faith? You see Willow isn't really ready but that doesn't mean you shouldn't become an item...it just means that she needs somebody strong to lean on so she can progress and become stable within the relationship. So you need to be the strong one Faith and you need to be ready before you jump or it could be a disaster."

The watcher had delivered the speech very calmly but the second he finished he began frantically cleaning his glasses again. He was cleaning them so vigorously that Faith was sure he was going to break them or wear the lens out.

"Whoa!" she gently exclaimed, taking the glasses out of his hands and putting them back on his face. "You're going to wear them out if you carry on!"

She grasped his hands so he couldn't start fiddling with them again and took a few deep breaths so she could try and formulate a response. He had made some good points and his concern was genuine and appreciated but she knew she had to explain to him somehow that she was feeling really relaxed about all of this.

"I've never been in a relationship before and you guys probably know that, so I understand and respect what you are saying to me" she assured him. "I'm feeling great though... I'm five by five! In fact I've never felt better or more sure about anything in my life which is kind of weird...I guess I'm growing up or something because I'm taking all the crap and just accepting it and trying to work through it rather than trying to punch a hole in it."

Having finished her speech she just sat there looking at him, hoping to see some sort of understanding even if she hadn't done a great job of explaining it. In fact she really wasn't sure what she'd even said it was so impromptu.

"That's a very good answer" Giles spoke up with a wide smile on his face. He gave her hands a brief squeeze before letting go and opening the jeep door.

"It is?" Faith was surprised, "I heard the words crap and five by five in there so I didn't think it would have come across very well!"

Giles had climbed out the jeep but turned back around and leant his elbows on the driver seat so he was facing her.

"I expected you to brush me of so that was impressive" Giles admitted. "I have to ask though, what does five by five actually mean?"

Faith actually had no idea what it meant; it was just something she said. If it had been five plus five then the answer would be an even number; that would make a little bit of sense. Five by five though was twenty five and that had no relevance at all.

"I have no idea" she admitted, "my mum used to say it and it just stuck I guess."

Giles chuckled and moved away from the jeep again, closing the door behind him. Faith climbed out the passenger side so that he could lock up and was not amused to find that he was still giggling at her nonsensical saying.

"Hey!" she complained, "it's no worse than some of the stupid things the English say! I've heard of rhyming slang you know!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Willow didn't wake till ten and was a little surprised to find that Faith had managed to creep out without waking her. It was very thoughtful of the brunette to leave her sleeping but Willow found herself a little disappointed that she didn't get to wish Faith good luck on her first day of work.

She had very little to do that day and in the end Xander had persuaded her and Chloe to go shopping and get their hair done. He had come with them and sat around patiently whilst the two were in the Salon, politely dodging one of the staff who kept offering to cut his hair. His hair was a bit of a shaggy mess but if he didn't want it cut then Willow had no intention of making him.

They met Buffy and Dawn on their way out of college and all walked home together. It was the best atmosphere between them all for maybe two or three years. It was certainly the best atmosphere since Chloe had been there and the blonde looked really cheerful because of it. In fact everyone seemed really hyperactive, even when they got back to the hotel. They all helped Chloe in the kitchen, cutting vegetables and preparing the food. Then once it was in the oven they all sat around chatting in the lounge. This is how Giles, Faith and Andrew found them when they arrived back from work.

Andrew seemed to be hyper anyway and came bounding backwards through the door first, talking and gesturing towards the other two. Giles and Faith seemed a bit more serine and looked bemused by Andrew's over-activity.

"Good day at work Faith?" Buffy was the first one to speak up, stealing Willow's thunder.

The brunette slayer made her way over to the sofa's and sat next to Buffy and opposite Willow. She stretched all her limbs one by one before turning her attention to the question.

"Yeah" she replied, "you should see how many books he has, I've spent all of today just piling them into loose categories."

Willow knew full well how many books Giles had at the back of the shop because he'd ordered hundreds recently and he was sent hundreds from England by the watchers. They were not in the library at the hotel yet because he needed to organise them first. Some of them probably contained content he wasn't confident of bringing into the hotel. It may irk her that she wasn't fully trusted but Willow could understand why he would be hesitant to store black magic texts here.

"Sounds thrilling" Buffy commented sarcastically. "Not that my jobs any better...I just file and photocopy things."

Willow wouldn't mind cataloguing the books and she doubted it would bother Faith. This was a girl who's spent years just looking at a cell wall so nothing would seem boring to her. Anyway, Willow now knew that Faith was a secret reader so the brunette was probably quite interested in the books.

"It was okay actually" Faith defended her new job. "I was fed well and I've never drank so much tea in my life!"

Giles must have been within ear shot because she heard him snort and laugh. It reminded Willow of the long evenings spent researching in the library and the magic shop. She'd never tasted tea before she'd met Giles but he used to ply her full of it when she was researching because he didn't think it was as bad for you as coffee. One of them used to sneak out and get coffee when Giles wasn't there sometimes when the tea got mind numbingly boring.

"I can definitely do with a night out though" Faith continued. "I'm a bit jealous though because I'm going to look like a tramp and Willow's got a pretty new haircut!"

Willow knew that she immediately blushed at Faith's compliment because she felt her face heat up and Buffy took one look at her and giggled like a pre-schooler.

"You...you couldn't look like a tramp if you tried!" Willow protested. "You're hot; you're hot no matter what you wear...or don't wear...or...I'm just going to shut up now!"

Buffy giggle turned into a full blown laugh causing those that were not involved in the conversation to suddenly look over. This made blushing Willow the centre of everyone's attention, which just made her blush further. Finally Faith diffused the situation by standing up and planting a kiss on Willow's forehead.

"I'm going for a shower before food" she announced, "some of us have got to slay before we display our hotness on the dance floor tonight."

"Amen to that" Buffy agreed as she too stood up.

Faith flashed Willow a sexy smile before she left causing Willow to blush again, if she'd even stopped blushing in the first place. Xander, who had been sat next to her but hadn't been part of the conversation, nudged her with his elbow. She looked across at him and he was smirking at her so she knew he was going to take the piss out of her.

"You got it bad girl" he informed her. "I'm surprised you didn't crawl after her and into the shower, worshipping her as you went!"

He raised his hands in the air in mock prayer to emphasise his point. Willow glared at him and gave him a friendly slap on his good shoulder, just as Dawn reached across from the other side of him and slapped him on the head.

"Don't hit the injured guy" he shrieked, lifting his good arm up to defend his head.

"Leave her alone then" Dawn instructed him. "You're just jealous because she's got a hot girlfriend and you haven't!"

Xander looked a bit horrified to have been assaulted from both sides and then lectured by Buffy's younger sister but then he sighed and nodded, poking out a silly pouty lip.

"It's no fair" he agreed in the most infantile voice he could muster. Dawn sighed and hit him over the head once more for good measure. He was about to protest when she silenced him by putting her finger to her lips.

"I remember when you used to look after me not the other way around" Dawn commented, drawing a laugh from everyone, including Xander.

Buffy was convinced that they had shared more group meals in the last week then they had in all the time they had lived in Cleveland. She wasn't complaining, Chloe's cooking had certainly played its part in improving the atmosphere and had forced them all to face each other. The group meal she had just sat through had been the liveliest yet as everyone was on a high about going out. Even Giles seemed keen to go with them and that was a real first. She hadn't really understood how poor the atmosphere had been until it improved again. She'd been like an ostrich with her head in the sand, ignoring everything that was wrong even though she should technically be the leader. Wasn't it the leader's job to sort through the problems and resolve them?

"Something wrong B?" the voice of the brunette slayer reminded Buffy that she was meant to be concentrating on slaying.

They had been wandering around the grave yard for at least fifteen minutes and it was a slow night. The only vampires they had come across were on their own and had been easy pickings. Easy pickings for Faith because Buffy had just wandered behind the brunette, lost in thought.

"No, just a bit distracted sorry" Buffy admitted.

It wasn't just the way everyone was behaving that had distracted her. It made her think about the past and high school and Angel amongst other things. She hadn't ventured into the world of dating since Spike had gone for the heroic exit back in Sunnydale. All her relationships had pretty much ended in disaster although her habit of dating vampires did set her up for failure. So she'd shied off dating when they first arrived in Cleveland and it wasn't like she was missing out because nobody else was dating either. Now they had a blossoming couple in their mix it actually made Buffy feel a little envious.

"Yeah me too" Faith agreed, "so it's not a good combination tonight."

Two distracted slayers were better than one but Buffy was sure Giles would have something to say if he was here right now. He'd lectured her plenty of times about the risks of getting complacent, that's how slayers get killed apparently.

"Why are you distracted?" Buffy was sure she was going to puke if Faith was having happy fluttery butterfly feelings about Willow. She may have gave the relationship her blessing but there was only so much loved up Faith she could take before feeling seriously freaked out. Faith suddenly looked very serious and she sat down on the nearest tombstone.

"Willow said we should treat tonight like a first date" Faith admitted. "I find that distracting...and far more scary then anything we are likely to find in this graveyard!"

If anyone else had said that then Buffy would have probably called them cowardly but she knew that Faith had no experience of dating. Faith was experiencing something for the first time that Buffy had experienced when she was sixteen. Time and experience dimmed the fear of the first date although it was never an easy hurdle to pass.

"You'll do fine" Buffy encouraged her. "You'll do fine if we ever get there! Standing around in a graveyard won't get you to your hot date now Faith will it?"

Faith grinned and leapt to her feet again, suddenly looking very eager to concentrate on the slaying again. Buffy watched in amusement as the brunette jumped on top of a tomb and viewed the graveyard from height, obviously intending to cut out most of the time it took to wander between the gravestones. After about twenty seconds she turned back to Buffy and shook her head. Obviously she couldn't see any one creeping around suspiciously; apart from them of course.

"We should find you a date" Faith grinned down at her. "We could set up a table and interview all the eligible local vampires!"

"Oh I'd run Faith or you'll be going to your date black and blue!" Buffy jokingly threatened. Faith shrugged like she didn't care but then a grin spread across her face before she leapt of the tomb and started to sprint away. Buffy chuckled at the brunette and set off after her, determined to catch her and at least nock her of her feet in revenge for her remark.

**Next post = Date time! Yay!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 29**

Willow had arrived at the bar with Xander, Chloe, Dawn, Andrew and Giles at about eight and they had found themselves a large booth that was still free in one of the corners. Willow had certainly made an effort tonight, in fact they all had, even Giles. She had applied more make up than she had bothered putting on in a long time, probably since before Tara had left her. She'd worn the most fitted jeans she owned and hunted out a top Buffy had bought her a couple of years ago that she'd only ever worn once before. It was an emerald green top made of a thin silky material that clung in all the right places and had three quarter length sleeves. On the front of the top there was a subtle design of a dragon in silver. It was a cool top and one she had only ignored because she hadn't really had occasion to use it before now.

Xander, Giles and Andrew were all wearing shirts and smart trousers; Dawn was in jeans and a blouse and Chloe was in a cute black dress. The blonde scrubbed up good and Xander was struggling to take his eyes of her which kind of confirmed Willow's newfound suspicion that he was crushing on their cook. Chloe didn't seem to mind his attention and was subtly encouraging it as the two sat across from each other in the booth. They were tucked into the corner, next to Giles and Andrew. Willow and Dawn were sat at the end of the booth closest to the dance floor.

They had all been idly chatting for about an hour but Willow hadn't been as involved as she should and could have been in the conversation. Her seat gave her an excellent view of the entrance to the bar and every time the door opened it had distracted her. As the door had opened at least twice every minute for the past hour she had spent more time looking towards the door than she had talking. After about the two hundredth time of looking at the door Dawn lent across the table towards her and got her attention.

"They'll arrive soon Will" the youngest member of the gang comforted her. "Why are you so nervous anyway?"

Willow had hoped she'd kept her nerves to herself for the last hour but obviously that wasn't the case. Then again she should have realised watching the door was not normal behaviour, even for someone as quirky as her.

"First date syndrome I think" Willow admitted. "I told her this could be our first date and now I can't stop worrying about it. I've hardly drunk anything because I don't want to get too drunk and make a show of myself or throw myself at her. I just want it to be perfect and fun and... I just want it to be a good experience for her because she hasn't done the whole dating thing before. I guess I'm worried about putting her off."

Okay she had no intention of babbling her fears at one of her best friend's younger sister but it had just happened. It was like verbal diarrheal; once it had started she seemed to have no control of what she was saying. It was all true though, she had only had one alcoholic drink since they arrived at the bar in fear of making a show of herself if she was drunk when Faith arrived. Dawn was pretty used to her babble though because all the young brunette did was smile in response. Dawn glanced towards the door and suddenly her smile widened considerably.

"Is it ironic that the first time you didn't look to see who walked through the door it was the person who you were looking for that entered?"

Willow whipped her head round to look at the doorway to see if Dawn was being serious or just winding her up. The younger of the two Summer's sisters was being completely honest though, Buffy and Faith were now standing just in front of the door. The two were obviously looking round trying to spot the gang and Willow had leapt to her feet to get their attention without even thinking about it. Her body seemed to have taken over her mind for now and she instinctively approached the two slayers.

Buffy saw her first and tapped Faith on the shoulder, gesturing towards the approaching Willow and grinning at the brunette slayer. Faith's face lit up the second she saw her and the brunette's smile made Willow's heart skip a beat or two. Willow came to a stand just in front of the brunette and the two looked at each other nervously.

"Why don't you two go to the bar... Mine will be a beer Faith!"

The blonde slayer pushed a ten dollar note into Faith's hand before walking off. Buffy seemed to be eager to get out of their way and Willow wondered if Faith had told Buffy about her 'date' idea or if the blonde was just being observant for once. Either way Buffy scurried of very quickly and headed towards Dawn who was waving at her. Willow turned her body to watch Buffy's escape but the sound of Faith clearing her throat brought her attention back to her 'date'.

"You look great" Faith informed her coolly when Willow faced her again. Obviously Faith had managed to collect herself in the couple of seconds whilst Willow was distracted.

"Yeah?" Willow asked shyly, smoothing her top down with her hands. "You don't look so bad yourself slayer. I half expected you to turn up covered in dirt and... dust... but you're as fresh as a daisy!"

Faith chuckled in response and did a little turn on the spot so that Willow could view her properly. The banter was putting Willow a bit more at ease now and they seemed to falling into their usual flirtatious selves.

"Wanna buy me a drink?" Faith asked sweetly, "I still don't have money of my own yet until Giles pays me next week."

Willow grinned at the brunette slayer and grabbed her hand so she could guide them both to the bar. It wasn't really that crowded but it was nice just to have physical contact with Faith. It was helping to ease the last of the tension away and Faith seemed to welcome it too. The brunette entwined their fingers together and began to caress Willows thumb with her own as they reached the bar. They came to a halt and faced each other, still holding hands. In the cramped space between other customers they were actually incredibly close together, their bodies were not quite touching but there was only a hairs breath between them.

"What can I get you?" Willow yelled above the music. It was much louder by the bar then it had been by the door and Willow struggled to hear Faith's response. The brunette slayer seemed to be having less of a problem hearing but then again she did have super slayer hearing so she was at an advantage. After the second failed time of repeating her drink order to Willow, Faith leant towards the red head so that her mouth was brushing against Willow's right ear.

"Beer please!"

Willow finally heard the slayer's words but she made no attempt to move away an order the drinks. Faith's mouth was so tantalisingly close to her skin and the brunette was pressed deliciously against her. She could feel Faith's hand pressing something into hers and vaguely registered that the item was the crumpled up note that Buffy had given them for her drink. After a couple more seconds Willow gathered herself together and leant back from Faith so she could turn and face the bar. She was sure that she was blushing ferociously and she could see the brunette was much pinker than usual too as she glanced at her out the corner of her eye.

A smirk started to creep across Faith's face and Willow was sure the brunette was going to say something flirty to her. The moment was ruined by an over-zealous blonde bar maid who virtually threw herself across the bar at Faith to take her order. Willow actually felt a twinge of jealousy for all of about two seconds until the brunette dismissed the blonde's attention and pointed her towards Willow for the drinks order. The blonde looked disheartened but took Willow's order and set three bottles of beer on the bar in front of them.

Faith still had Willow's left hand in hers and seemed reluctant to break the contact for anything, even the drinks. The brunette awkwardly scooped two bottles into her one free hand, leaving Willow to carry one, and led them towards the corner where the others were still sitting.

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Buffy had sat down in the booth next to Dawn and had settled into their conversation until Faith and Willow returned from the bar with her drink. The two were hand in hand and looked every bit the happy couple as they settled down next to each other in the booth opposite her and began to talk about patrol that night.

They all sat in the booth together for about twenty minutes, Willow and Faith in their own conversation and the other's noisily discussing redecorating the hotel. Buffy tried to keep up with the hotel conversation but she couldn't help but keep a curious eye other the two lovebird's interaction. At some point in their conversation, possibly when Buffy went to the bar to get more drinks, the two had released each other's hand and Faith had stretched out her arm so it was running across the back of the seat and behind Willow's shoulder's. The brunette's thumb was idly drawing patterns over the material covering Willow's shoulder but neither of them seemed to notice that she was doing it. It was a sure sign that they were feeling very comfortable around each other, as was the way they were both angled towards each other with their legs touching. Willow's hands were much more active and she was gesturing them around wildly as she spoke.

"We should get up and dance!" Dawn shouted across the table loud enough to disturb Willow and Faith's conversation and get their attention.

Her younger sister began to try and shove Buffy of the end of the seat so she could get out of the booth. Dawn was definitely tipsy but Buffy was not and there was no way she was dancing just yet. Luckily Willow, Faith, Xander, Andrew and Chloe all seemed willing to join Dawn on the dance floor, freeing Buffy up of the responsibility of minding her sister for now. Buffy wasn't the only one who showed no interest in dancing. Giles was still sat in the booth, which was no surprise really; so Buffy shuffled down the seat to sit opposite him.

"Not dancing?" Giles asked over the loud rock music that was currently playing.

"Not yet" Buffy replied. "I need a few more beers first I think!"

Giles chuckled and began to play with the half full bottle of beer in front of him. Buffy wondered if he was actually enjoying himself or if he just hadn't felt like being alone in the hotel. He seemed quite interested in what was going on around him though and she could see his eyes wandering to their group of friends on the dance floor. They were all dancing in a large group at the moment with Dawn in the centre of the action.

"I think we should make your younger sister move onto drinking water for a bit" Giles commented. Buffy glanced back across to the dance floor to see Dawn blatantly trying to push Xander towards Chloe. Her sister probably thought she was being subtle in her slightly inebriated state but in reality her actions were really obvious. Luckily Chloe just seemed to laugh it off even if Xander did look a little mortified. It actually seemed to work though because Chloe dragged him towards her and out of Dawn's way so he did in fact end up dancing with her. Dawn then continued her matchmaking by pulling Andrew away and dancing with him, leaving Faith and Willow together.

"Do you think he likes her?" she asked Giles. The watcher took a swig of his drink before answering.

"Of course he does" Giles replied a little too easily. She'd expected his glasses to come off and for him to start cleaning them vigorously. It seemed she really was oblivious to what was going on around her because she'd only just noticed; it sounded very much like Giles had been aware of Xander's crush on Chloe for a while.

"I'm sure he's liked her since the first day we met her" Giles commented. "It's difficult though isn't it? None of us want to love and loose again; it's happened too many times. I wonder if it will take one brave person to give us all the confidence to try again."

Buffy didn't have to follow Giles' gaze to know he was looking at Faith and Willow. Her best friend was certainly taking a big risk with her heart and Buffy had to admit that seeing the two together had made her slightly jealous that she was alone. They had all been alone when they arrived in Cleveland. Buffy had lost Spike; Giles was still hurt by the loss of Miss Calendar; Xander had lost Anya and Willow had lost Tara. Even though Andrew and Dawn hadn't lost a partner both had adored Anya and Dawn had looked up to Tara like a parent. Her younger sister must also miss Spike too because he had always taken care of her and she'd been fond of him. Of course Dawn had suffered the loss of their mother too and of course the loss of Buffy herself for a short while.

"I'm not sure I'm safe dating anyone whether I'm feeling inspired or not!" Buffy quipped. "I seem to pick guys who really aren't suitable... or alive actually!"

Giles raised his eyebrows at her before taking another large swig from his drink. She knew he had really not approved of either her and Spike or her and Angel. Not that anyone had actually approved of her and Spike; even she didn't approve of her and Spike but he had helped her in a twisted kind of way after she had been ripped out of heaven.

"Perhaps you've just solved your problem, don't date vampires!" Giles finally commented. "Although to be fair Angel and Spike had their uses because they were handy in a fight..."

Buffy smiled as Giles trailed off into silence. They had missed having another supernaturally strong fighter around for the last few months but now Faith was back they were no longer lacking in that department. Two slayers were far more deadly than a slayer and a vampire, especially as the brunette slayer was so goddamn fearless to the point of recklessness sometimes.

Buffy glanced back towards the dance floor where the other slayer was still located. They were still split into pairs; Xander, Chloe, Dawn and Andrew were all dancing quite normally but Faith and Willow had latched onto each other at some point during hers and Giles conversation. Willow now had her arms wrapped loosely around the brunette's shoulders and Faith had her hands on Willow's hips. They were obviously that close because they were trying to talk and dance at the same time but they actually looked really good together.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but they actually make a really cute couple" Buffy commented to Giles. He seemed to be watching the pair too and a warm smile had spread across his face. It was moments like these were he was the father figure, smiling proudly at two of his little dears.

"They do" Giles agreed. "I'm glad tonight is going okay for them because I got the impression today that Faith was actually rather nervous about it. I was wondering if she was worried about going out as a group as she's only just been accepted again."

"Yeah she said she was nervous during patrol" Buffy agreed. "Not because she was worried about going out with the gang though! Willow told her it could be their first date and Faith has never dated before so... big deal and all that."

Faith had gradually felt her nerves slipping away throughout the night. Her and Willow had danced for about an hour, during which time she had pretty much forgot the others where there with them. Every now and again they'd bang into Dawn or Andrew who were spinning each other round the dance floor like a couple of rowdy teenagers. Apart from that everyone seemed keen to leave them on their own.

They had finally escaped from the crowded dance floor to the bar so they could get more beer but it was busy and it was taking them a while to get served. Willow was leaning on the bar trying to catch somebody's attention, so Faith used the opportunity to press into the back of the red head and pin her against the bar, bringing her arms on either side of the red heads body and placing her hands on the wooden surface in front of them. She probably wouldn't have dared do it if she was completely sober but Buffy had kept bringing them fresh beer on the dance floor so she was rather tipsy now. Willow was tipsy too and she giggled at Faiths actions and pushed back into her, grinding herself back into Faith slightly.

Faith groaned automatically in response and went to step away from Willow, knowing that she was leading herself into trouble. She would not rush Willow or let her rush herself because she was drunk but if Willow kept grinding against her then she'd probably forget about her noble intentions. She didn't get to escape very far though because as she went to pull her hands of the bar Willow pressed them back down again with her own. Faith stilled instantly and Willow turned in her arms so that she was now facing her with her back against the bar. Faith had edged back slightly but they were still pressed together. Their close proximity left Faith gasping for air but she felt like she was frozen in place with her body and eyes unable to leave Willow's.

"Hey" Willow said softly, her eyes briefly flickering down towards Faith's lips. "Having a good night?"

"Yeah" Faith replied slowly. She was making a huge effort not to sound as totally turned on as she was feeling but her voice had a drawl to it so she knew she wasn't being completely successful.

Tipsy Willow didn't seem to mind in the least that this was getting a heated though and she raised her arms from her side to wrap them around Faith's neck. This brought them nose to nose at one another and Faith forced her eyes shut to stop herself focusing in on the red heads inviting lips. Willow had other plans though because suddenly those soft inviting lips were brushing across her own. It was a whisper of a contact at first but then it deepened and Willow pulled them impossibly closer.

It was a slow and gentle kiss, almost exploratory, and Faith began to relax into it. Just as she wrapped her arms around the red head several people around them at the bar cheered and started clapping and wolf whistling. They broke apart quickly, both blushing because of the unwanted attention they had drawn to themselves.

"Sorry" Willow muttered so quietly under her breath that If Faith wasn't a slayer she probably wouldn't have heard it. Faith reached out and squeezed her hand comfortingly and Willow smiled back at her. Even if the red head was a little embarrassed she clearly didn't regret kissing her.

In fact it had done them a favour because they'd certainly attracted the attention of the bar staff. One of whom, a young black haired guy, suddenly had time to serve them immediately. So with beers in hand they headed back towards the booth where most of the others were sitting. The only absentees where Buffy and Dawn, who had obviously finally convinced her sister to get up and dance.

"Causing a stir?" Xander called over to them the second they sat down. He had the biggest smirk imaginable on his face and he clearly loved their embarrassment. Faith glanced across to the bar again and confirmed her worst fear; the dance floor didn't cover the part of the bar they were stood at from their table of friends. That meant that she and Willow had just been witnessed kissing by all their friends. They were never going to hear the end of this from Xander for the rest of the night.

"Ignore him" Willow leant across and whispered in her ear. "He just wishes he was getting to date the prettiest person in Cleveland rather than having to watch one of his best friends kiss her instead."

Faith chuckled at Willow's cute but drunken sentiment and wrapped her arm around her so they could cuddle. She wasn't sure how much longer they were meant to be staying out for but she hoped it wasn't too long. She didn't feel like the party girl she once was and more than anything she really did want to just crawl into bed and cuddle up with Willow. At some point within the last week she'd become a loved up sucker but contrary to prior belief she really kind of liked it.

Author's note: So sorry for the delay updating. I'll be much quicker with the next chapter x


	30. Chapter 30

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 30**

By the time they had all decided to go home Faith was feeling decidedly tipsy. She hadn't drunk to that extent in years and even her slayer powers couldn't withstand the effect eleven beers were having on her. Even the bottle of water she'd consumed on the way home was doing little to wash away the dizzy feeling. She wasn't alone though because Willow and Buffy were in equally as 'high' spirits and Dawn and Andrew were practically falling over they had drank that much. Xander, Giles and Chloe had gone at a far steadier pace which was a good thing as the two men were virtually holding Andrew upright on the walk back to the hotel. Dawn was being propped up by Buffy who kept giggling every time her younger sister stumbled. Willow was cheerfully striding alongside Faith at the front of the pack, swinging their joined hands jovially as she walked. Whilst sober Faith knew she'd probably be kind of embarrassed but tipsy Faith was not only intoxicated by the beer but by the amazing smile Willow had plastered on her face.

The 'date' had gone amazingly well considering how nervous she'd been before arriving at the bar. It had been a relaxed date though just like Willow had promised, full of dancing and socialising with the others as well as each other. The evening had even produced a kiss which had been unexpected considering Willow's speech the day before. However it left Faith in an odd dilemma because she had no idea how to expect the night to go from this point on. Did they go to separate rooms? Did they just carry on as normal and crawl into bed together? The way Willow had been dancing with her and the way she had kissed her made it hard for Faith to conceive that they could just lie down in bed next to each other and go to sleep.

It was unusual to come back to a completely disserted dark hotel. Usually Chloe was in keeping the home fires burning so to speak but not this time. In fact Faith had never realised how many locks were actually on the front entrance. She was used to it just being a single key to open it but Giles had obviously taken precautions because they were all out and locked it with three separate keys and a bolt with a combination lock.

"It's like a fort" she stated out loud to no one in particular.

"Well with all those crazy books and weapons we wouldn't want a burglar to get in" Dawn drawled drunkenly, "we'd be arrested!"

Of course the locks would only really be effective against humans. Anything more sinister would be able to kick through the door regardless or spell it open.

Giles finally unclipped the last lock and pushed the door open before stepping inside and turning on the lights. It was already past two in the morning and everyone seemed keen to head straight for bed. Faith decided the best course for her was to head to the kitchen for another glass of water. It would help clear her head and hopefully give her time to figure out where Willow wanted her to sleep. Willow's hand stayed firmly in hers and the red head followed her through to the kitchen, saying goodnight to the others as they disappeared off towards the bed rooms.

Once in the kitchen Faith eased out of Willows grasp and poured them two glasses of ice cold water from the filter in the fridge freezer and handed one to Willow. The red heads eyes had never left her the whole time and even with her back turned Faith could feel Willow's eyes on her. It was drawing a mixed reaction from her because on the one hand it was making her feel really hot for Willow, like take her against the kitchen counter hot. Yet on the other hand she feared rushing her too much and was worried that Willow was rushing herself because she was drunk. People were always more horny when they were drunk right?

"Are you coming?" Willow asked surprisingly seductively after she'd gulped down her water. Faith's inner battle was still raging and for a second or two she paused, glass still in hand until Willow removed it from her and set it aside on the counter. For the first time since they'd stopped in the kitchen Faith looked Willow in the eyes. Her aim was to gage what Willow was thinking but it had been a dangerous idea. Willow's eyes were dark, nearly black, like when she was struggling to control herself at the meal the other day because of Xander. This time the control issue seemed to have nothing to do with magic and everything to do with desire. To most people it probably would have been frightening to see how closely the two seemed to be linked with Willow but Faith had never considered herself easy to scare.

The red head tugged at her wrist and Faith gave no resistance as the witch led them towards the first floor bedroom. It faintly fluttered into her mind that her more private basement bedroom would be better venue but her mouth was dry and words were not coming. This seemed to be adding another dimension to Faith's attraction to her. Willow was sweet, funny and caring and Faith had fallen in love with her. She was also an attractive woman with a great body and Faith certainly appreciated that side of her. Now though, dark and seductive Willow was ticking the boxes that Faith had never expected to see the red head tick. Turned on and sexy Willow was hot and kind of dangerous. It gave Faith an appreciation for what Buffy had probably liked so much in Angel and Spike.

Once in the bedroom Willow let the door swing shut, seemingly unconcerned about keeping everyone awake in the surrounding rooms. Faith had only followed her about a metre into the room before she found lips pressed firmly against her own and the red heads hands tangled in her hair. Willow's tongue instantly sought access and pushed deep and fast into Faith's. The shock didn't seem to last long as the brunette felt her body instantly respond and suddenly she was returning the kiss with equal gusto. Any plans of steadying the ship and calming the red head seemed to be going out the window and Willows right hand broke away from the brunette's hair and began massaging her breasts roughly through her top. Faith gasped at the contact and broke the kiss but Willow's mouth was instantly on hers again and the wandering hand slipped under the top and began unclasping Faith's bra instead.

To a degree this wasn't what Faith had wanted. She'd got this idea in her head that the two would take it slow and then when they were ready make love passionately for hours. That's the way they portray it in the romantic films after all. This however was what Willow seemed to need from her right now and Faith suspected that stopping wasn't an option tonight.

Willow pulled out of the kiss as she succeeded in undoing the clap and instead watched Faiths reaction as she began to pull at the brunette's nipples roughly with her thumb and forefinger. Faith could do little to hide her pleasure and tipped her head back at the arousing contact.

As good as it felt Faith still had that niggling feeling that this was probably not a good idea and that as much as the red head seemed to need and want it now she could regret it just as much straight afterwards. In truth Faith's head was still spinning from the alcohol and she knew it would seriously be clouding Willow's judgement right now too. With this in mind Faith stepped away from her so that she was now out of reach.

"Willow" the name came out as barely a whisper. The red head looked at her with a mixed look of anger and shock that she'd backed away but then the look softened so that Willow just looked frustrated and confused.

"Take me" she suddenly begged hoarsely, taking Faith by surprise. If the brunette slayer had truly got it into her head that this was stopping right now then that was probably the one thing that was guaranteed to change her mind. For as much as she's come to terms with pretty much sharing Willow's affections with Tara she still felt like Willow was Tara's and not hers. So the words 'take me' seemed to spark something inside of her. Maybe it was because she was drunk but it was the first time she'd felt jealous of Tara and it coincided with the first time she could do something about it.

"Faith" Willow spoke her name softly as the red heads hands began to undo the button and zipper on her own jeans. "Take me."

She may have had to be asked twice but she wasn't going to require a third time. Willow was offering herself up and it was simply impossible to resist. Willow must have seen Faith's willpower give way because she closed the distance between them and kissed the brunette again, guiding the brunette's hand inside of her jeans and panties. The second Faith's fingers came in contact with the wealth of warm wetness she found there she knew she was lost and there would be no stopping now. Suddenly she seemed to be the one in charge as she removed her hand from Willow's jeans and forced the restrictive garment and her panties part of the way down her leg. All her fears washing away in a drunken desire stricken blur. Inhibitions now down Faith lifted Willow up and onto the chest of drawers located against the nearest wall knocking god knows what off in the process. Willow didn't seem to be protesting in the slightest and leant back onto her hands giving Faith the perfect view of her. The brunette continued to swiftly remove the jeans and Willows shoes until the red heads bottom half was totally naked. She then began to pull Willow's top up with the intention of taking it completely off but she was prevented by Willows legs lifting up and hooking over her shoulders. The red heads legs wide apart for her and the view right in front of her eyes was enough to distract her from her earlier intent. Instead she wrapped her arms around Willow's hips and lower back and lifted her towards her mouth, dipping her tongue straight inside the red heads opening and thrusting hard. The load moan out of Willow in response was totally satisfying and incredibly hot so Faith repeated the action to see if she could elicit the same reaction again. This time Willow's hips bucked as well as her moans and Faith knew it wouldn't take too long to bring the super turned on witch over the edge and into orgasmic bliss.

She freed up one hand and used it to reach under the red heads top and push her bra up so she could massage her breasts. Slayer strength meant that she could easily lift the slender woman's weight with one hand and Willow was supporting her upper body herself anyway. Faith changed the tempo of what her mouth was doing from hard slow thrusts inside the red head to soft, fast licks across her clit. Starting on one side, then moving to the other, then circling, purposely avoiding running her tongue against the most sensitive part so she could prolong the experience both for her own sake and Willow's. The red head tasted good, better than she remembered any one of her stupid conquests tasting. There was only going to be so long she could carry it on for though because the red head was getting more desperate with every stroke of her tongue and was starting to thrust herself into Faith's mouth rather wantonly...and Faith loved every second of it. She had no intention of making the girl she loved beg again though and she moved her focus to the core of Willow's clit where she needed it the most, sweeping her tongue in every direction as hard and as quickly as she could. Willow's moans became virtual screams as Faith felt the red heads thigh muscles clench hard around her shoulders before they released suddenly.

Willow's weight sagged against Faith as her arms gave way and the brunette slayer used both arms to support her as she continued to run her tongue slowly over Willow's sex. Once she'd mopped up all Willow's juices she lifted the red head off the chest of drawers and placed her onto the bed, kissing the red heads neck and shoulders tenderly as she moved her.

A mix of the great orgasm and the alcohol had virtually knocked Willow out and the red head was struggling to keep her eyes open. Faith carefully removed Willow's top and stripped down to her vest top and panties. Even though Willow was naked it seemed odd completely undressing herself when the red head hadn't seen her naked yet. By the time Faith had done that Willow was asleep so the brunette slipped under the covers and cuddled into the back of the lightly snoring witch. She didn't even care that Willow had not been able to make love to her, it seemed completely unimportant. Although in some ways it had just been a drunken fumble the whole experience had felt so totally different to anything she had experienced before. Usually she wanted sex purely to 'get off' but this had been about making Willow feel….about making Willow feel her and belong to her. Faith had not orgasmed but right now she didn't feel the need to. She was simply content to snuggle against her very naked Willow and enjoy the fact that her ministrations had knocked her out like that; plus a little help from the beer.

Faith closed her eyes and breathed in Willow's perfume, nuzzling into the red head's neck and sighing contentedly. Sleep came quickly but then it always did with the beautiful red head present. No one could make her relax like Willow.

Buffy couldn't believe it when she woke at seven in the morning. Not only had they got in late but she'd also been kept up by Faith and Willow having sex with the volume turned up. The banging against her wall had been rather disturbing especially as it was right above her head on the bed and although it hadn't gone on long she had been awake at least another hour before recovering from the shock enough to sleep.

She was happy for the two of them, something that still surprised her considering her earlier reservations, but she was soooooo making them move down to the basement together. That way at least they would be out of earshot. They had been so loud that when Buffy had woke and turned to see the time was only seven she expected to hear more noises or something that could have woke her but the hotel was in total silence. It didn't even sound like Giles or Chloe was up. Then after about ten minutes of lying in silence Buffy heard the floorboards creek outside her room and her door slowly creaked open. It was pretty dark still but her highly sensitive slayer eyesight meant she could just about recognise the figure in the doorway as her sister.

"Dawn?" she whispered quietly.

"Oh thank god you are awake" Dawn replied quietly. She abandoned her creeping and marched into the room and plonked herself on the bed next to Buffy.

"Why are you awake?" Buffy asked.

Dawn rolled over to face her and Buffy realised she looked rather green and sickly. She had forgotten how much Dawn and Andrew had poured down their throats last night.

"Sick" Dawn confirmed her suspicions, "never drinking again."

Buffy chuckled lightly at her sister's words as not only had Dawn said them before but she had also heard every member of the hotel say it at least once in the time they had known each other.

"Did you hear the love birds last night?" Dawn suddenly chirped up, "I was so drunk but they were so loud I couldn't sleep. Willow sounded like one of those female tennis players!"

"You think they were loud? They were going at it against my wall!" Buffy exclaimed.

The pair of them started giggling but then Dawn stopped suddenly and stared at the wall. She pointed at the wall in confusion and then a look of realisation spread across her face.

"Isn't Willow's bed against the other wall?" Buffy nodded and Dawn giggled again.

"Maybe I should get myself a girlfriend if the sex is that good…"

Buffy shook her head at her sister but then started giggling too. After a minute or so they calmed down and Dawn shifted under the blanket.

"Just don't throw up on me" Buffy muttered before lying back down again properly. It had been a while since Dawn had crawled into the same bed as her. In fact it was probably the last time she had got very drunk a couple of months before. There seemed to be a theme….

Willow woke up slowly and for a few seconds everything seemed pretty normal. Well, normal for the last week. Faith was in her bed albeit a little closer and cuddlier than usual and her soft breaths were caressing Willow's necks and shoulders. Then she realised that she could feel Faith's breath against her shoulder and her legs against hers and they were naked legs. Very naked legs. In fact she was completely naked and Faith was only half dressed. It took a few more seconds for her to wake up enough for her brain to de-mist and the night's events come tumbling back.

"Jesus" Willow muttered to herself, causing the brunette who was spooning her to stir from her sleep.

The red head froze as Faith nuzzled her neck sleepily. They were meant to be taking it slow…last night was anything but slow. Willow was all drunk and very horny and Faith was now all nuzzley and Willow was naked and pictures of her and Tara were staring at her from the wall. Her brain ran into overdrive and she rolled away from the slayer suddenly and out of her grip, nearly tossing herself off the side of the bed in her panic.

"Huh?" Faith practically leapt off the other side of the bed and looked round the room suddenly awake and alert. Her eyes darted everywhere then finally settled back on Willow. The red head had the bedding tucked up to her chin and was trying to push down the wave of panic and guilt that was washing over her. Faith looked so beautiful in what little she was wearing and dishevelled hair but somehow that only made the panic worse. Could she really do this? She had slept with Kennedy sure but it was just sex because as much as Kennedy had liked her Willow had never really returned the feelings. She had been there at the right time, when she needed someone, when it seemed like their world might end. Last night with a bit of drink down her she had wanted Faith more than she had ever wanted anyone including Tara… and that couldn't be right, right?

"Willow are you okay?" Faith asked softly, "did you have a nightmare? Drink can do that to you. Once I had a dream there were hundreds of me and I kept multiplying, it was like something of Dumbo..."

_God don't be cute _Willow thought to herself, she couldn't cope with this right now. She tucked her blanket even more into her neck as Faith stared at her. The brunette's eyebrows knitted together as she looked at her thoughtfully. Willow's eyes darted back to the picture of her and Tara and slayers eyes followed her eyes there before sighing loudly.

"Willow I'm sorry….we were meant to be taking it slow and I wanted to…I was going to…I should have just said no" Faith stumbled over her words awkwardly, her face despondent.

She began to stumble around looking for her jeans and putting them on. She was miles away from being the elegant confident slayer as she struggled with her buttons. Willow watched her shaking hands and her guilt crept steadily higher and higher. She was messing everything up. She always messed everything up.

"It's just Tara…" she tried explaining but the words wouldn't come. At the mention of the name of Willow's ex Faith stilled and her whole body stiffened.

"I know red" Faith mumbled softly, "I know."

With that the brunette turned and walked away, quietly letting herself out the room, leaving Willow lying in bed. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Like something heavy was sitting on her chest and she couldn't shift it.

**SORRY FOR THE YEAR DELAY GUYS! GONNA TRY AND FINISH THE FIC OFF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 31**

It was about 10am when Buffy headed down to the gym to train. She'd left Dawn still snoring and managed to change and wash without waking her. The hotel was silent and she presumed that everyone except Giles, who had surely gone to open the shop by now, was asleep. It wasn't until she started to descend the stairs into the basement that she heard the faint noises of a punch bag being assaulted. She knew it had to be Faith because there was no one else in the hotel other than her who could hit a punch bag that hard. She just didn't get why Faith would be down in the basement and not rolling round in bed with Willow.

The door to the gym was half open and Buffy snuck in silently. For a few seconds she thought Faith hadn't noticed but then the other slayer stopped beating the punch bag senseless and rested her head against it.

"Why are you just standing there B?" the brunette asked, her tone dry.

It was the first time Buffy had felt Faith be hostile since she had showed up with Willow a week before and she felt a wave of sympathy for her. Something had happened this morning and it was really hurting the other slayer, she wasn't even trying to hide it and that was not like Faith. Even the new improved Faith was fairly guarded but this was just open despair. She was virtually cuddling the punch bag, lathered in sweat and sniffing like she was holding back tears.

"Talk to me Faith" Buffy encouraged softly, "we're friends right?"

Faith let out a loud sob and collapsed to the floor, tears silently running down her face as she tried not to cry. Buffy genuinely had no idea how to deal with a tearful Faith; she'd have probably searched out Willow for help if it wasn't so obviously about the read haired witch. She had to do something so she started by approaching with care, slow and steady, and sat down alongside Faith making sure she didn't totally invade her personal space.

"It's Willow" Faith glanced at Buffy before focussing back down at the floor. Buffy had learnt nothing she didn't already know but it was a sign that Faith was giving her an opening to talk.

"I thought last night went well?" Buffy replied carefully, "it sounded like it went well…"

Faith actually chuckled slightly before shaking her head and wiping her face with the back of her hand. The silent tears still continued to fall and the brunette put her hand down and gave up trying to stem them.

"Last night was great" she finally spoke up, "It was probably too good…I mean…we did stuff….you know…anyway she was drunk and I knew we shouldn't but she begged and I just couldn't say no."

Buffy had certainly heard no resistance from Willow through their adjoining wall, just loud and unashamed grunts of pleasure. Not that she really wanted to remember.

Even though they had drifted apart she had enough of an idea about how Willow was feeling to know that the red head was still battling the depression she'd fallen into after Tara's death. Although Buffy had been blind to it at the time, only a week ago Willow had been light years away from ready to move on and love again. Now only a handful of days later she was on the edge of being ready, her heart was raring to go but her own insecurities were holding her back.

"I'm sure she is just scared Faith" Buffy tried to comfort the brunette, "she loves you and I am sure of that."

Faith sighed and lay back on the cold wood floor, staring blankly at the ceiling. There was a brief silence between them but Buffy noted that the tears seemed to have stopped running for now.

"Can you check on her for me?" Faith asked suddenly. "I don't think it's the right time for me to go back in there but you…"

"Sure" Buffy cut in as Faith's voice trailed off, "I'll go now and give you some space if you want?"

The brunette nodded and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to steady herself. Buffy steadily got to her feet so she did not alarm her and watched her for a few more seconds.

"Chin up Faith" Buffy said before turning away and heading back out the door. She faintly heard a remark about it being hard to keep anything up when you were horizontal but she was now focussed on what she was going to say to shake some sense into Willow. How do you go about telling someone to let go of someone they loved?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Willow had been on her own for about forty minutes before she finally climbed out of bed and threw her robe on. She had lain there in silence for a great deal of the time feeling sorry for herself but it was gradually starting to turn to anger. Anger directed completely at herself. She thought getting up would help improve her mood but it was just making it worse and she had found herself stomping around her room for about ten minutes. She had to find a way to get over this. She wanted Faith for god's sake and Faith wanted her and they could be happy together.

What exactly was holding her back? Was it purely the memory of Tara or had she just immersed herself in anguish and pity that long that she just didn't know how to let it go. She gazed at the photos of her and Tara on the wall and paused. Faith and her had been going at it against that wall last night perhaps only inches away from the pictures but Willow had been too turned on to consider them. Waking up and looking straight at them had been what triggered most of her guilt and anxiety that morning. How could she move on physically with someone else under the watchful eyes of Tara? How could she expect Faith to live and love like that?

She stepped forward impulsively and pulled the pictures off the wall and threw them on the bed. These pictures needed to go away in a photo album and become fond memories. Xander had taken pictures at the bar the night before and there would be ones of her and Faith as well as them all as a group. It was time to replace the old pictures with the new. It was time to move on. It couldn't just be the pictures; she needed to put away the old sweater and Tara's necklace. She would never get rid of them because she never wanted to forget Tara, she would always be loved, but if she was to move on they needed to be out of sight. The chain around her neck was no longer a beautiful reminder of her lost love but a restraint tying her to the past. Jesus is Tara could speak to her now she'd probably give her a right dressing down for the way she was treating Faith and tell her she was being stupid. Tara would want her to be happy.

She folded the sweater on the bed and placed the pictures on top of it shakily. Even though she was determined there was still sadness sweeping over her as she packed them into a spare canvas bag she had lying round. At some point tears had started to run, tears for Tara, tears for Faith and tears for fear. She was letting go of all the fears and insecurities that had held her back since that fateful day when Warren pulled the trigger.

She tried to take the necklace of but it was awkward with her shakey hands and then there was a light rap on the door to distract her. She wasn't sure who to expect, Faith didn't usually knock but she might after what had happened only an hour before.

"Come in" she called out hoarsely, still struggling with the necklace.

She was almost relieved when the blonde slayer entered not the brunette one. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Faith; she just wanted to be the one to go to the brunette not the other way around.

"Hey Buffy" she greeted her. "Can you help me? I can't undo the clasp."

She watched Buffy's eyes flick across her face, taking in the tears, before focussing on the bag on the bed. The photos could clearly be seen at the top of the bag and it must have been clear to even the unobservant blonde what was happening.

"Sure" Buffy finally replied before stepping behind Willow and reaching for the clasp. Willow relaxed her hands down to her sides as Buffy fiddled with the awkward clasp, finally releasing it after a bit of a struggle.

"I just spoke to Faith" Buffy informed her as Willow turned round to face her. Buffy had the necklace in her hand and was gazing at it.

"On the way up here I was trying to think what I could say to you. I wanted to tell you that you had a good thing going and that you needed to let go of the past and think about your future. I wanted to tell you that Tara would want you to be happy. I was going to suggest you tried to move on and take her pictures of your wall…."

Willow looked at the blank bit of wall where the pictures had been as Buffy continued.

"…it seems you've beaten me to it though."

Willow felt more silent tears spill down her face and Buffy reached out her empty hand to her, holding Willow's palm up. She than placed the necklace into Willow's palm and guided her hand closed around it.

"Tara was a fantastic person Willow" she said softly, "and none of us will ever forget her even if we can't see her picture or her necklace. She will always live in here."

Buffy tapped her chest lightly, indicating her heart and Willow nodded vigorously. There was a place in her heart for both Tara and Faith. She just hadn't understood that before.

"I have a spare jewellery gift box in my room if you want to put it into the bag safely?" Buffy offered.

Willow could only nod in reply and Buffy dashed straight out of the room to go get it. Willow was sure the slayer was rushing in case she changed her mind. She also heard some rattling next door that sounded decidedly like Buffy empting a box not finding an empty one. She couldn't help but chuckle at Buffy's actions and it was really nice that they seemed to be real friends again. It was the first time in what felt like forever that Buffy seemed to understand what was going on inside her head.

Buffy reappeared a few seconds later with a long black box in hand that looked like it once housed a bracelet. She handed it to Willow and the red head placed it on the bed and took the lid off. It felt a little like laying someone to rest when she placed the necklace in the box and closed it up. It was an odd feeling, a mix of sadness and closure and perhaps a little bit of relief too. She placed the box in the bag with the sweater and pictures and picked the bag up. Buffy watched silently as she took the bag to the box chest that sat next to her chest of drawers. There was stuff piled on it and Buffy glided past her and lifted the pile of clothing so that she could place the bag inside. Once she had done that the blonde placed the clothes back down on the chest and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Yes there was definitely a sense of closure and it felt like a weight had been lifted off Willow's back. Now she had to turn her focus onto fixing the present. Looking round the room she made a decision, one which she felt was significant. The room was not full of happy memories, quite the opposite, and it was right in the most active bit of the hotel. If Faith and she were going to be a proper couple they needed some space and privacy. Space was something that they could get very conveniently in Faith's room down in the basement; a room that happened to be much larger than hers and was currently looking very sparse with only Faith's belongings in.

"You said you spoke to Faith?" Willow spoke up, "where is she?"

Now Willow had decided to put the past behind her for good it felt imperative to find the brunette slayer and tell her she loved her. At the moment she was sure that Faith felt like crap because of her and the quicker she could change that the better.

"In the gym" Buffy replied. Willow started to head towards the door but the blonde slayer called her back.

"You got anything under that robe?"

Willow looked down at the fluffy green robe before smirking at Buffy. It was all the answer the blonde slayer needed and her eyes nearly shot up through her hairline.

"Well….enjoy" Buffy chuckled. "I think I am going to go for a run and leave the basement action to you…"

Faith had lay on the floor of the gym for a few minutes after Buffy had left to speak to Willow before dragging herself up and heading to her room for a shower. She was extremely sweaty after having beaten the punch bag senseless for an hour. It was a good job Giles had found a way to secure its bracket onto the wall and the punch bag to the bracket with chains. Otherwise she'd have spent most of the time trying to put it back up again so she could hit it.

She had stripped in the bedroom and thrown her clothes into the laundry basket before walking straight into the shower and turning it on. The cold water that sprung out was unpleasant but Faith was in no mood to care and she didn't even flinch. It didn't take long for the water to run warm and she completely submersed herself in it. She closed her eyes and leant her forehead against the cool tiled wall and let the water run down her face and body. She tried to not think, tried to shut off the pain and hurt she was feeling and just focus on the water. Time drifted past and she had no idea how long she'd been stood like that. 5 minutes? 10 minutes? She really had no idea. However sound outside the shower cubicle had brought her round from her almost meditational state. She was just about to shut the water off so she could go investigate when the shower cubicle door was pulled open.

Faith turned and jumped slightly as Willow appeared in the doorway and then froze. She had not expected to see the red head so soon and certainly not in her bathroom. To top the surprise off Faith was totally naked and wet! The red heads eyes flickered down her body quickly before shooting back up to her face.

"I wanted to apologise" Willow began to speak. _In my shower?_ Faith thought but remained silent and frozen to the spot.

"I am so sorry about this morning Faith. Last night…last night was incredible and it felt so right and so good. I didn't do it because I was drunk… I just didn't stop myself because I was drunk. Do you understand?"

Faith shook her head; they both sounded the same to her. Both meant that Willow wouldn't have wanted to make love to her when she was sober didn't they?

"I want you" Willow tried to clarify. "I want us Faith. I love you, I really do and I am ready to move on from the past and enjoy my future with you."

Faith's brain seemed to be struggling to take all this in and she actually felt quite self-conscious stood in front of Willow totally naked. This was what she wanted Willow to say to her, what she wanted to hear and the situation was so surreal that maybe she was dreaming. There was one way to test that theory.

"But Tara…?" Faith forced the words out, not wanting to ruin the moment but needing to know it was real.

"Tara is gone" Willow stated matter of factly. "There will always be a place in my heart for her but she is gone. I have to let her go."

Faith stared at the red head intently. Part of her wanted to rush forward and kiss Willow but the other part was pleading with her for caution. She couldn't keep just offering herself up to get hurt. It was then that she noticed that Willow wasn't wearing Tara's necklace. She had not seen her with it off before and she wondered if that's what Willow meant about letting go.

"Could I move down here with you?" Willow cut into her thoughts. "We can make this our room with our things in."

Faith felt like she was going to cry but this time with joy rather than sadness. It really wasn't a cool feeling. At what point had she turned from super stoney cold slayer to mush?

"I'd like that" she admitted, more to herself than Willow.

The red head smiled broadly and to Faith's shock slipped her robe off and tossed on the floor revealing nothing but skin. Faith had already seen her naked but she hadn't really had time to admire her the night before and this time they were completely sober. She couldn't help but let her eyes roam over Willow hungrily but was glad to see that Willow was now doing exactly the same to her. The red head then took a step into the shower cubicle and shut the door behind her leaving her only inches away from Faith. Another small step and she was partly under the water too and beads of water began trickling down her very naked body. Faith felt herself gulp at the sight but for now she remained still and content just to watch.

"You know you are meant to use soap or something in the shower right?" Willow mumbled as she continued to consume Faith with her eyes even though they were standing so close. Faith tried to reply but her mouth seemed suddenly very dry.

The red head raised her hand and placed it on Faith's chest just above her breasts and gently pushed her backwards against the wall so that back of Faith came in contact with the cool tiles. The brunette gasped involuntarily and closed her eyes as the fingers of the hand trailed lower between the valley of her breasts and down her flat stomach. It came to stop by her navel before pulling away. Faith opened her eyes again to find Willow pouring some shower gel onto her hand.

Willow smiled at her softly as she placed the shower gel back down in the tray, moved the shower head away from them and spread the gel across both hands. Then reaching out slowly she placed her hands around Faith's neck and began working the gel into her skin, moving down to her shoulders and then her arms until she reached her hands. Faith closed her eyes briefly as Willow started before opening them again to find Willow staring at her lovingly as she worked. Faith locked eyes with her and gasped as Willow's hands went to her chest and breasts, rubbing the shower gel into every bit of skin including Faith's suddenly very erect nipples. Faith couldn't stop the moan that left her mouth as Willow tweaked her nipple slightly and Willow responded with a moan of her own. This was the most erotic thing that had ever happened to Faith and she was enjoying every second of it.

Willow's hand slipped lower over her stomach and the red head dropped to her knees as she moved down over Faith's hips, thighs and calves. After rubbing the gel into Faith's feet Willow stood up again and made eye contact with Faith before reaching between Faith's legs and gently rubbing what little remained of the soapiness into Faith's sex. Gently parting and smoothing over the sensitive skin there with her fingers. Faith practically growled in response as Willow gasped at the warm wetness she found there. Faith had expected Willow's hand to stay there but instead the red head turned Faith and pressed her front against the wall. It would have been easy for the brunette to rebel but she was entranced by what Willow was doing and she didn't want to break the spell. She was a slayer…she had self-control and she could wait until Willow was ready to make love. She just really needed her to hurry up…

She heard Willow put some more gel on her hands and then the red head returned to her task of cleaning Faith's body. Following the same pattern as before she started at the neck and moved downwards, spending a little longer on Faith's ass than the rest of her body, before finally turning the slayer round to face her again. Faith now had her back pressed firmly against the wall again and Willow stepped into her so their bodies were in full contact. Faith's arms shot up to cradle Willow's back and keep her close to her and Willow tangled one hand in Faith's sopping wet hair. Willow angled the shower head back over them and placed her free hand flat against the wall to the side of Faith's head and it supported Willow as she dipped her head forward and pressed her lips against the brunette's.

Faith instantly kissed her back and sought complete access to Willow's mouth. Willow had the same idea and they fought for dominance in the kiss. It was passionate and intense as lips collided, tongues stroked, teeth nipped at lips and tongues were sucked into each other's mouths. It was a kiss unlike any other Faith had experienced and she just wanted more even though she could barely breathe. Eventually they had to break apart though and never letting their eyes leave each other's they both panted for breath.

Willow was the first to move again as she moved Faith's hair away from her neck and began to kiss one side and then another. Faith laid her head back against the wall to give the red head more access and buried her right hand in Willow's hair. She was enjoying every kiss and every sensation as Willows mouth moved lower over her collarbone and down to her breasts. She latched her mouth onto Faith's right nipple whilst her hand reached up and massaged the left breast. Faith didn't even bother to suppress the moans as Willow sucked and licked the nipple before swapping over onto the left one. Water was running all over both of them making the view even more sexy and erotic for Faith as she looked down and watched Willow. It was about to get even sexier though as Willow moved her mouth lower over Faith's stomach and down between her legs.

Faith couldn't believe how confident Willow was being especially when the red head hooked Faith's left leg over her right shoulder and began kissing the inside of her left thigh. The kisses got steadily higher and higher until Willow parted her folds with her right hand and slowly but firmly licked up between Faith's folds and her clit. The brunette groaned in pleasure and grasped out with one hand to the side of the shower cubicle to steady herself. Her other hand remained in Willow's hair and her grip tightened ever so slightly as the red head repeated the action. It was not enough to cause pain but enough to encourage Willow onwards. The red head reached her left hand behind Faith so it rested between the wall and Faith's lower back and tugged her hips forwards to angle them better. Faith was now total putty in Willow's hands although she was still sure this must be a fantasy and that she'd actually just fallen asleep in the shower. Fantasy or not it was a damn good one and she had no intentions of it stopping or waking up just yet.

Willow repeated the long licks a few times before closing in on Faith's clit and circling it with her tongue; one way and then the other. The feeling of Willow's tongue on her and the hot water was driving Faith crazy and she couldn't believe how close to the edge she felt within just a minute of the red head's tongue ravishing her. Willow was relentless though and her tongue continued to move firmly and quickly around and across Faith's clit and within another minute Faith couldn't hold on any longer. She had been softly moaning pretty much the whole time but as her orgasm built and then released she let out a loud moan followed by Willow's name. Her legs buckled slightly but Willow held her up as she continued to lick her slowly and firmly until the orgasm finally subsided.

Faith's eyes were still shut as she felt her leg being lowered and Willow stand up. When she finally did open her eyes Willow's face was hovering close by with an affectionate look gracing her features.

"I love you" the red head stated softly before leaning in for another kiss. This one was much slower and softer than the previous. It was a kiss full of love and devotion.

"I love you too" Faith murmured as they broke apart again, only to be rewarded with another slow kiss. As their lips broke apart this time Willow leant her forehead against Faith's and the two remained in silence for several moments. The only sound was the shower and the water hitting the floor.

"This is a dream" Faith finally spoke up. She had been sure since Willow entered that it wasn't real but hadn't wanted to wake up. The fantasy was just too good to ruin. Willow chuckled slightly and kissed her forehead affectionately.

"No Faith" she replied softly. "This is real…and if you turn the shower off and follow me to the bedroom I will prove it."

Without any more words Willow swung the shower door open and stepped out, throwing the fluffy robe back on her wet body and picking up a towel to dry her hair with. Faith watched her for a few seconds before reaching up and shutting of the shower. It was not an invitation she would ever say no to…


	32. Chapter 32

**Smash Into You**

**Rating:** M (Not in the early chapters but it will come later on)

**Pairing:** _Willow and Faith_. As much as I am a Willow and Tara girl if I have to accept the fact Tara is forever gone then I really like this pairing as a season 7 or post season 7 pairing. Was never much impressed with Willow and Kennedy, Joss should have well gone down the Willow and Faith joint redemption route!

**Disclaimer:** If Buffy was mine then Tara would never have died and Faith would have been in every episode! Amber and Eliza are good eye candy!

**Summary:** Nearly a year after the defeat of the first Willow organises Faith's early release from prison and asks her to join the gang in Cleveland. Ignores the comics and presumes that Faith would have actually gone back to prison to complete her sentence.

**Chapter 32**

Faith woke up and had absolutely no idea what time of the day it was. All she knew was Willow was lightly snoring next to her and she was very hungry. Her stomach grumbled loudly and she was surprised it didn't wake the red head. They'd had a very active morning though so perhaps it was no surprise. The brunette managed to ease away from Willow without waking her still and checked the clock on the bedside table. It was seven in the evening; neither of them had eaten all day and with Faith's slayer appetite that was like starvation! They'd only been asleep for a couple of hours because she remembered it being about four fifty the last time she saw the clock. She felt kind of mean waking her sleeping girlfriend but she was sure Willow was starving too by now.

"Willow" she shook her girlfriend lightly by the shoulder. The red head stirred but didn't wake at first until Faith shook her again.

"Mmmmm morning" Willow mumbled sleepily as she snuggled closer to Faith again and kissed her shoulder. It was such a cute thing to do that Faith nearly just cuddled back into her again and forgot about getting up. Then her stomach rumbled again and Willow giggled.

"It's the evening" Faith explained, "and I haven't eaten all day."

"Oh my god you should have woke me" Willow sat bolt upright suddenly which caused Faith to jump a little. Faith sat up next to her and reached for her hand to caress the soft skin by her thumb.

"I was asleep too" she admitted to the now wide eyes red head. This information seemed very interesting to Willow and she smirked at the brunette before pushing her back down on the bed and leaning over her.

"Mmmm so I managed to wear a slayer out" she purred seductively, before nipping at Faith's lower lip lightly.

Faith chuckled and dodged the next nip by shifting her head to the side slightly before turning back towards her girlfriend and capturing her lips in a steamy kiss. Willow responded eagerly and just as they were getting lost in the moment Faith's stomach growled again. It completely ruined the moment as the red head began to giggle and had to pull out of the kiss.

"Food?" Willow suggested.

She sat up and pulled Faith so she was sat up too. The brunette couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of her. Willow's hair was tussled slightly; it was pretty obviously 'sex hair' and she had several small bruises from Faith's bites below shoulder level. The slayer couldn't imagine ever looking at Willow's body and not getting turned on or it at least drawing some kind of emotional reaction. The red headed witch was beautiful and she had the softest skin imaginable.

"Clothes then food" Faith corrected. Suddenly she felt a wave of jealousy over the idea of anyone else seeing her girlfriend's naked body even though she knew Kennedy, Tara and Oz had before her.

"I thought we could just go like this" Willow quipped sarcastically back. Faith pecked her on the lips in response; once, twice, three times before finally dragging herself away.

She felt Willow's eyes follow her whilst she got up of the bed and routed out some clean underwear to put on. Eventually the red head got up too and started to put her dressing robe on. It had slipped Faith's mind that her girlfriend had turned up in her bathroom wearing only a flannel robe.

"Maybe we should go to your room first and get you some clothes" Faith suggested.

"Yes please" Willow agreed as she tied her robe.

Faith threw some jogging pants and a vest top on and tied her hair back in a ponytail. She didn't really like having it up like that but she couldn't be bothered sorting it now. Willow put on her slippers whilst Faith put on her training shoes without bothering to find socks. She was sure she looked a state but she was too hungry to care!

Willow reached for her hand and they tangled their fingers together and started walking. It felt good to keep constant contact with the red headed witch and Faith did not feel self-conscious even when they got to the top of the stairs and came across Dawn and Buffy heading from their rooms and towards the dining room.

"Good timing to emerge guys" Dawn declared. "Chloe has some Paella prepared for us."

Her stomach rumbled at the mention of food which caused everyone to chuckle. Faith dipped her head bashfully at the sheer volume her stomach was making. Willow released her hand and kissed her cheek affectionately.

"Go get something to eat and I'll catch you up in five minutes once I'm dressed" Willow instructed her. Faith went to protest but Willow silenced her with a peck to the lips.

"You're starving Faith" she said softly, "so go eat."

It felt a bit weird to be without Willow now they were officially together but she knew she couldn't spend every hour with the red head. She was sure Buffy and she would come to blows if Faith didn't pull her weight stalking vampires every evening.

She followed the other slayer and her younger sister into the dining room where everyone else was sat around the table already. There was a huge bowl of the rice in the centre of the table with plates set out for each member of the household, or hotelhold, or whatever you'd call them.

"No Willow?" Xander queried. "We set up for everyone but we were not sure we'd see either of you…"

He finished his statement of with a cheeky smirk and Faith pulled a tongue at him. There was a place free next to him so Faith took that seat. There was a free seat opposite her for Willow.

"She'll be here in a minute" Faith replied as she sat down.

Andrew was the first one to grab the big Paella dish and Faith watched enviously as he started to spoon the delicious looking rice onto his plate.

"You better pass that down to Faith next Andrew" Buffy chuckled, "she looks ready to fight for it!"

Just as Buffy finished what she was saying Faith's stomach rumbled again in anticipation of the food that was now heading her way. The table erupted into laughter and Faith reached out eagerly for the bowl, too hungry to get embarrassed any more.

"I haven't ate all day" Faith explained as she began spooning a generous portion of the food onto her plate.

"Well…not food anyway!" Dawn chirped up. She was rewarded with a smack on the arm from her sister for such a dirty joke but everyone else laughed. Well everyone apart from Giles who sort of laughed but it was a nervous embarrassed laugh.

Faith passed the bowl on to Xander and began trying to eat her food at a reasonable speed even though she wanted to stuff it down her full pelt. After Xander had passed the bowl on and people were settling into eating or their own conversation he nudged her with his elbow.

"You look happy" he observed.

"I am" she replied instantly. He smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the door. Willow had just walked in dressed in jeans and a cosy purple jumper and her eyes instantly searched out Faith. The red heads eyes lit up the second their eyes made contact and she strode across the room to opposite Faith and sat down. It was just in time for the bowl to reach her part of the table.

"You look happy too" Xander declared across the table at Willow, who smiled broadly.

"Subtle Xander" she replied cheerfully. "Yes I am happy, yes we are official and yes we had sex all day. Happy?"

"Exstatic for you!" Xander replied cheekily.

Again Giles looked like he wanted the floor to come swallow him up whilst everyone laughed. Faith was sure it must feel like listening to your children talk about sex for him; uncomfortable and slightly wrong. For a confirmed old bachelor he'd ended up with a lot of 'children'.

"So are you guys gonna live in Willows room or the basement?" Dawn asked. Faith saw Buffy smirk slightly at the question and suddenly Dawn jerked like she'd been kicked under the table.

"Basement…Its bigger" Willow replied between mouthfuls of the tasty Paella.

"More soundproofed too" Dawn quipped before jerking more noticeably from a harder kick under the table from Buffy.

Willow blushed a little but then continued eating her food like nothing had been said. Before today Faith would have been scared that a comment like that would make Willow shut off from her but they had turned a corner. She could feel it in her heart and she could see it in the red heads body language.

"We should help you move your stuff tonight" Xander suddenly spoke up again.

"Yeah?" Faith was getting used to people accepting her and Willow being together but she still hadn't expected such a positive attitude from them.

"Yeah" Xander continued, "I bet it would take 40 minutes tops for us to help Willow sort it whilst you and Buffy are on patrol."

Everyone nodded in agreement and Faith was pleased to see the broad smile on Willow's face. The brunette slayer was used to being the bearer of bad, whether she liked it or not, but somehow since she'd arrived in Cleveland she'd been part of righting the Scooby Gangs faltering friendships and making Willow a much happier person. It felt fantastic; in fact she couldn't figure out why she hadn't tried this good thing earlier.

The two slayers had been gone for just over two hours and Willow was starting to really miss her girlfriend. Xander had been right, they had moved her stuff down there in about thirty minutes and Xander and Andrew had even managed to get a two-seater leather sofa down from the top floor in the lift. Andrew had been a bit reluctant at first because the lift was a bit old and jerky and really wasn't used regularly at all but Dawn had bullied him up there.

In the hour since they had finished she had changed the bedding from the old hotel plain sheets Faith currently had to some vibrant green and blue ones of hers. She had put up some of the photos from their night out that Dawn had printed for her whilst the others hauled the wardrobe and chest of drawers down the stairs for her. It had been quite amusing to see Giles struggle to keep up with Buffy whilst they were dragging Willow's incredibly heavy pine wardrobe along. Then she had also hung a seascape picture she had found stored on the top floor. It matched the colour of the bedding and added a spark more colour to what was currently a very bland room. Now Willow was sat on the sofa listening to some music on the radio. She hoped Faith wouldn't mind the colourful additions to her room…or their room as it was now. In fact considering it was actually now their room Faith probably expected it!

Finally the door creaked open and Faith peered in. When the brunette slayer realised she was still awake she swung the door open and strode in, taking in the room as she walked towards the sofa.

"Wow you guys were busy!" she exclaimed, "and I'm digging the sofa!"

Willow jumped to her feet and closed the distance between them. She wrapped her arms around the slayers neck and planted a firm kiss on her lips. She didn't want to seem too needy; they'd only technically been girlfriends for less than a day! As strong and calm as Faith was being about all this the situation was still very new to her and Willow didn't want to scare her. Not that Faith had been the one being a coward before today; that had all been Willow. Today though Willow had felt a renewed sense of optimism and self-belief that she hadn't felt since…well since Tara.

Faith responded by hooking her hands into the back pockets of Willow's jeans and pulling the red head closer. It felt good to be pressed flush against her, not just because she had a hot slayers body but because they just seemed to fit. It was comfortable to be so close to each other; it felt right. The kiss was slow and lingered on and on until Faith pulled back and smiled at her.

"How was patrol?" Willow asked the grinning brunette.

"It was fine" Faith replied before pulling them towards the sofa and sitting down. Willow noticed a large red mark on her arm and she was surprised she hadn't seen it as the slayer entered. She reached out to trace it with her fingertips.

"Something hit you?" she asked, smoothing her hand over the mark lightly.

"Someone" Faith chuckled, "someone called Buffy!"

Willow tensed, she had thought the two slayers were getting on well now so why where they fighting. Faith must have seen her visible stiffen because the brunette slayer starting chuckling.

"Relax red it was a friendly slap" Faith explained. "I asked some vampire on a date for her so I got a hit for it."

Willow shook her head at her girlfriend and laughed. She wasn't remotely surprised Buffy hit her but she was glad they had a good camaraderie going. Faith broke her thoughts by reaching her arm around Willow's shoulders and pulling her closer so that Willow's head was resting on the brunette's shoulder.

"The room really does look great" Faith stated softly. The slayer started stroking the skin of Willow's shoulder exposed by her top. It was affectionate and sweet and Willow tilted her neck more to give her more access.

"Maybe we can get some nice cushions and stuff at some point, make it look even more homely…I've never really had a home before. I guess the place I've stayed the longest since I was young was the Prison in LA. I'm not sure that really counts as home though… "

Willow sat up and twisted towards the brunette so they were facing each other. She still felt guilty that they hadn't been more welcoming to Faith in Sunnydale; that they hadn't tried to help her after the accident. Somehow though it seemed like this was how it was meant to be. That Faith was meant to go on this skrewed up journey of self-discovery. That she herself had been meant to have love and lost, fall apart and finally be put back together. In so many ways it was a cruel world but every now and again there were rays of light. She'd have never imagined back in Sunnydale High that her ray of light would be the cocky brunette slayer that seemed to be taking her best friend away from her.

"I love you" she reached out and cupped Faith's cheek in her hand, stroking the soft skin there with her thumb. The brunette smiled and reached up to run her thumb across Willow's lips.

"Good" Faith smiled again. "It would suck if you didn't because I am really in love with you Willow."

Willow felt her stomach flip and her heart race at Faith's admission and she grasped the brunette's face and placed a firm kiss on her lips. Faith instantly responded by wrapping her arms around her and kissing her back, pushing Willow backwards so that she was lying on the sofa with Faith on top of her. The brunette raised herself up on her elbows and looked at her smiling broadly.

"I really…really like this sofa" she chuckled before dipping her head down and kissing Willow again.

Willow couldn't imagine being any happier in this moment than she already was. She was closer to her friends than she had been in at least a year and she felt so good in herself. It was like being reborn. She knew there would be hard times ahead. There would be demons to fight, evil to defeat, vampires to kill and no doubt there would be personal issues to work through. For the first time in a long time though she had someone to face these things with. Someone who cared…someone who loved her…someone she loved.

**This is the last proper chapter…just the Epilogue to go *SOB***


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